Insight and In Sight
by AnonAndUnknown
Summary: Hannah Byron enters Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry as a 7th year. Throughout this thought-provoking, heart-mending story, the past of Miss Byron slowly unravels itself, opening up the eyes of some staff members. Hannah grows close to certain characters, as her abilities prove most useful in current events. Keep reading over the next month to watch the story unfold.
1. Chapter 1

**This story contains content not suitable for the light-hearted and those with an easily altered emotional and mental state. Some of the content may refer to real-life mental illnesses, and may provoke negative thoughts.**

**This story is completely based off JK Rowling's Harry Potter and The Order Of The Phoenix, and the character Hannah Byron is original and made up. The events and characters have been altered to suit the emplacement of the protagonist of this fanfiction. Very little dialogue in this story is based off what the characters actually did say in the Novel or Movie. **

Hannah stood in Dumbledore's office, after being flooed in through his fireplace just minutes ago, alongside Dumbledore himself. She looked around, emotionless, apparently not at all phased by a single site that lay ahead of her, although her gaze drifted across all his furniture, photo frames, and laid a moment longer on his Phoenix, Fawkes.

A gentle cough brought her attention to the old man with his silver beard hanging perfectly in front of his grey robes, staring intently at the girl behind his half-moon spectacles.

"Miss Byron," he said, through a hoarse but clear voice. "Seeing as this will be your first year at Hogwarts, although you are joining us in your 7th year, we are required to sort you into your house." He eyed her waiting for a response, a look of interest, even a twitch of movement. Nothing. He began again, "I'll save you the humiliation of being sorted in front of the school with the 1st years, and instead will sort you into your house, right at this very moment." He looked again, this time she nodded very halfheartedly. He conjured a stool in front of his desk, and gestured to it for Hannah to be seated. She did so without question, as he placed the talking hat upon her head.

The slit in the hat opened, and closed again as the hat retracted a bit, perhaps to rethink what it originally thought.

"Odd mind. Odd mind indeed. Most certainly has courage, but very little intent on showing it. Brains, oh my, very intelligent indeed. Most definitely capable of anything expected of a 7th year. Ambition, so much ambition, but very little motivation. Loyalty indeed lies in here, but again, no commitment." The hat once again retracted in thought, accompanied by a drawn out croak. "It appears that you have the qualities of all the houses. Ahh, yes but this one specifically. A very complex mind, but very cunning. Better be, Slytherin." The hat concluded in a slightly less enthusiastic tone as usual, finishing in a more sinister, uncertain voice.

Dumbledore reached for the tip of the hat and gently removed the hat before placing it upon a shelf. He watched intently for a reaction on the 17 year old's face, but it appeared emotionless. He sighed inwardly before placing a hand on Hannah's shoulder. "Hannah, I shall escort you to your new house leader, and he will show you to your common room, there he will appoint you to a knowledgeable student who will show you around. You will then be required to attend the sorting of the 1st years, engage in the feast, and will be allowed to retire before your first day. Is there any questions?" Hannah shook her head, barely noticeably, before following Dumbledore out of his office, and towards the dungeon.

Dumbledore gently tapped on a dark wooden door, in an unnecessarily melodic rhythm. Hannah could hear a heavy sigh from behind the door, before hearing a low, bored, dragged out voice, "Come in."

Dumbledore twisted the knob of the door, as it released with a loud thud and creak as the door wrenched open. Behind a desk within the room was a man, in around his mid-thirties, wearing pure black robes, from an unnecessarily high point of his neck, all the way down to his ankles. His face hid behind curtains of dark, long, black hair. The man was scratching something down on a piece of parchment, before he placed his quill down and raised his head. His deep, black eyes went to Dumbledore, who had already approached his desk, then his eyes drifted to the slim, short, blond girl who held back at the door of his rooms. He eyed Dumbledore again, edging him for an explanation, before Dumbledore cleared his throat and began to lecture. "This is Hannah Byron, she has joined our school as a 7th year, and has been sorted into your house. I would find it fitting if you were to escort her to the common room, and introduce her to someone of the house you think worthy of looking after her, until she is knowledgeable enough of the school to go about alone." Dumbledore turned to Hannah before hinting for her to come forward. Hannah approached, with her right arm by her side, and her left hand clutching effortlessly to her right elbow. "Hannah," Dumbledore began, "This is Professor Snape, he is your house leader and will be your Potions Master. You will be introduced to your other Professors tomorrow, as your lessons progress." He looked towards Snape, who reluctantly nodded at Hannah, acknowledging her existence. Hannah nodded back in her attempt to be polite. Dumbledore looked once more between the two Slytherins, before departing from the room.

Snape stared at the empty doorway for a moment, before turning his attention to Hannah. "I suppose you know how to follow instructions?" Drawled Snape, as he eyed Hannah over dangerously, judging her. The short haired girl, with one side of her hair, longer than the other, draped over her right eye, eyed Snape back, somewhat offended by the fact that he thought her ignorant enough to not be able to follow instructions, but she ignored the thought, and nodded. Snape continued to size her up, as he absentmindedly reached for a bit of parchment from the right side of the desk, then turned his attention to it as he scratched down instructions on the piece of parchment. He slid it with the tip of his fingers, slightly to the edge of his desk, closer to Hannah. Hannah read all of the instructions, without touching the parchment, before taking one look up at him so their eyes met, and departed from his room, making her way to the Slytherin common room.

Hannah arrived at the stone wall which supposedly lead to the Slytherin common room. "Vengeance" she voiced, as the wall opened up into a dark room, with skulls hanging upon the walls, snake carvings and skins hung and laid randomly around the room, emerald green sheets draping across the wall every now and then, with a silver snaked centered on every sheet. The floor was concrete, with the occasional green rug, the furniture was all either emerald green or black, and the windows allowed a murky green light through the rooms. Hannah looked out of a window to see the Giant Squid float past effortlessly.

Feeling slightly impressed by the originality of the rooms, she noticed a boy who fit the description of what Snape wrote down on the piece of parchment, laying absentmindedly on a green couch, with his arms draped over either side of the arms on the couch. Hannah approached the blond boy, making herself noticeable as she scraped her feet unintentionally against the concrete floor. Draco looked up at her, as she saw his eyes calculating, as he realised he didn't recognise who he was looking at.

"Snape told me you'd show me where the dorms are." Hannah said, barely audibly. Saying no more or no less than what she needed to. She wasn't really bothered with trying to create friendships, she just wanted to get by, preferably on her own.  
"So, you're new I assume?" Questioned Draco, not really caring, more or less calculating how necessary it was to have to direct this girl to her dormitory. Hannah just nodded in return, watching him roll his eyes as he departed his couch, making a big deal over the fact that he has to show responsibility with his newly appointed role as prefect.

Draco walked to the door of the girls dorm, gesturing her to the direction of it, as if she were entirely blind. Hannah walked to the door, placing her hand on the handle, glanced back at Draco, before dismissing him with a nod and entering the dormitory.

The dormitory was rather ordinary, just grey concrete walls, green carpet, and multiple bunk beds, all with emerald green and silver bed sheets. The room was unoccupied, apart from one girl, who looked about 15. Hannah didn't bother acknowledging her, just dumped the stuff she had on her, including a backpack full with clothing and muggle art supplies, on a bed then departed from the dorm.

Hannah made her way across the common room again, noticing Draco's glare in the corner of her eye. Ignoring it, she continued to the exit, and made her way into the hallways of the dungeon.

Hannah walked around the dungeon, taking a mental note of everything's whereabouts, before climbing up a stairwell and doing the same on the ground floor. She walked around every floor and hallway accessible, memorising where everything was as she went along. The chimes of the clock tower told her it was 7pm, and time to make her way down to the Great Hall.

As Hannah approached the Great Hall, she continued walking to where, obviously, she was meant to sit. She walked to her left to where everything hanging above the tables were green and silver, while trying to avoid every other sight that came to her view. She can't deny that she was mesmerised by what she did notice, but she just didn't really see much point in showing her amazement. She very much thought the whole layout clever, the 4 house tables, sitting adjacent to one another, floating candles, a heightened stage at the front for those with authority, and of course, the starry ceiling which reflected the night sky. She approached the Slytherin table, and sat herself at the farthest point from another student, at the complete back of the hall. There were about 6 staff members at this stage at the front of the hall, although Hannah had terrible eyesight, and couldn't make out the features of a single one of them, apart from the only one dressed entirely in black. Hannah tried to focus her sight on the Professor in black, and managed to decipher that the man happened to be looking directly at her, she looked a little longer to notice his glare moved from Hannah, to a boy sitting reasonably up close to the front, Draco. Hannah mused over the fact that Snape must've expected Draco and her to enter together, but quickly distracted herself from the thought when she realised that she didn't really care what he was thinking.

The hall started filling up with more students and staff, and decided she didn't want to draw any attention to herself by making eye contact, so she rested her chin in her arms on the table, before closing out everything around her, and focusing on her own thoughts, about why she was here, and why she didn't care to be here.

**Thanks for reading my first ever chapter of fanfiction! I'll continue to upload chapters at least once a day (hopefully).**

**Hannah Byron is based on my own appearance and a fair bit of my personality. The first few chapters are slow-paced and focused on character development, but I promise things will speed up and intensify. **

**If it isn't clear, this is set in Harry Potters first year, 90% of the background events will be revolved around what actually happens in The Order Of The Phoenix. **

**Let me know what you think of my first piece of writing, I understand the chapters are reasonably short, but I haven't quite adapted to this whole 'writing chapters' thing. I'll come around eventually. **

**Thank you for reading, and I'll keep you updated over the next few hours. **


	2. Chapter 2

**If you've read into this far, thank you so much! **

Hannah sat up in her bed, with only the thinnest of covers barely reaching her torso, as her knees were raised high enough for her to rest a wad of paper upon her thighs, as she sketched her imagination along the paper with her muggle pencils.

After hours of flowing incomprehensible thoughts, and unfocused drawing, Hannah finally set the drawing of a black cat face down beside her bed. She reached down the front of her unchanged robes, and pulled out the necklace which rested upon her chest. She looked at the watch which hung from the chains, to conclude that it was 1am. Hannah had never really been bothered changing from her day clothes to night ones for most of her life, in fact she never really slept at night, until this night, which she felt only logical, considering she had school the next day, for the first time in 10 years. Looking around the dormitory, to ensure that none of the dozen girls in the room were awake, Hannah decided that she would change her habits. She unzipped her backpack gently, to pull out an oversized t-shirt and shorts. Hannah never really wore shorts, for multiple reasons, but felt it a good enough reason to wear them as night clothes. She slipped behind a curtain and put on her newly chosen night clothes, before sliding into her covers and retiring for the night.

She awoke early in the morning, around 6, as she glanced across the room to ensure everyone was still asleep. Satisfied, she got out of her bed, and again, slid behind a curtain and got changed. She never really cared about her appearance, she knew her hair was short enough to not look anything other than styled if she were to awake with strands sticking up in random places. Snape had told her to be in his rooms at 9:00am, as that was her first lesson. He informed her that she would be given her timetable there, and any other enquiries would be answered, either before or after class.

Hannah wandered around the castle aimlessly, as she thought over everything that had happened throughout her life. She never had told anyone about anything that happened in her life, in fact, she never really had anyone to tell, but she wouldn't want it any other way. She loathed the idea of socialising, sharing emotion, empathy. She hated it when someone touched her, whether it be accidental or purposely. She hated human contact in general, especially if it were someone who would try to engage with her in any way. She liked being alone. Well, she liked being away from humans, although she quite enjoyed the company of animals.

Hannah contemplated going to see Dumbledore, purely because she wasn't very prepared for school at all. She only was aware of the fact that she would be attending Hogwarts yesterday, she hadn't had time to get books, potion ingredients, quills, an animal, or even her own wand. In fact, as soon as Dumbledore found Hannah, roaming around in the middle of London, he had flooed her straight to Hogwarts. Not much was said between them, although Albus seemed to know a bit more than he ought to, especially since Hannah hadn't met him before, or even heard of him for the matter.

Hannah approached the stone gargoyles located outside the passage to Dumbledore's office, when it dawned on her that she didn't know the password. Thinking, she managed to conclude that, if Dumbledore hadn't given her the password, then obviously he didn't expect Hannah to enquire about her lack of school supplies. Perhaps he planned on getting her supplies later? Or maybe he just genuinely didn't realise that she was so little prepared for such a sudden and major turn of events. She sighed, surely some people can't possibly be that dimwitted and closed minded, to believe that someone who literally had no money, or no way to obtain money, would happen to have a wand and a load of expensive school books. Hannah never needed any of those things throughout her life. She hadn't had too many problems getting by without a wand, and doing things mostly as muggles did. You didn't exactly need a wand to cast magic, but more or less, those who have grown accustomed to using a wand, seem to have developed an unnecessary attachment to their wand, and become reliant on it. It's only normal to lose faith in all else when you've grown so accustomed to a certain thing or method, even if those it outshines are just as capable. That's what happens when popular demand overwrites what is logical. Some people choose a method just because other people do. That's why Hannah despised people so much. They're so convinced that they're some superior, when in reality all they do is act in the qualities of animals. Sheep. Followers. Bats. Blind. Bugs. Irritating.

Hannah shook her thoughts back to reality as she heard footsteps down the corridor. Dumbledore. Dumbledore spotted Hannah leaning against the wall outside his office passage. About time she decided to enquire, he thought, as he walked up to her, changing his face to what he thought looked as if he were questioning her presence.

Hannah looked up at Dumbledore, at first he looked expectant, with his head held high as he began to walk toward her, she watched what she could see of his face, through her flawed vision, to see what looked like him mulling a situation over in his head. His facial features suddenly became more soft, as his eyes turned to that of a quizzical man. Hannah knew better than to think he was actually curious, the man probably had a hundred years of experience to change his face to the emotion he wished to portray. But Hannah didn't think it necessary to point out his obvious motives, and waited for him to speak first.

"Ahh, Miss Byron, what brings you here, so early in the morning?" Dumbledore looked at Hannah expectantly, obviously planning his next change in emotion, as he thought he knew what Hannah would say in return.  
"You know quite well." Hannah retorted, avoiding conveying any emotion in her voice, she didn't want him either being satisfied or upset with her answer, so she kept it at where he will either blatantly lie to her about his knowledge, or just accept that she wasn't willing to have a committed conversation, and help her with what he knew she needed help with.  
"Very well," Dumbledore sighed inwardly, before continuing, "I somewhat expected you to be here this morning, and I have planned how we will go about this. Considering there is still just over an hour until classes, I think it logical that we head over to Diagon Alley now, and purchase all that you require for the year." Hannah watched as she saw the familiar, forceful change in emotion, to that of a quizzical look. "Do you have any money?" Hannah knew the question was bound to come, but was rather taken aback by how sudden and straight forward his question was. If Hannah were anyone else, even if they were as poor as Hannah, they would've been offended by how straight up his question was, but perhaps Dumbledore foresaw that Hannah didn't really care how insensitive someone was to her. After all, he was quite a clever man. Hannah thought over the face value of the question. Did I have money? No. Was I willing to let someone else spend their money on me? Not necessarily. With a quick glance back in memory, of what valuables laid around his office, she concluded that it wasn't really going to make him any worse off if he were to donate some money to buying Hannah books, although she probably didn't deserve his charity.

Satisfied with her conclusion, Hannah shook her head, to notify him that Hannah in fact, did not have any money. Not wizard money anyway. Dumbledore nodded his head, Hannah could see that he understood, he seemed to understand a lot more than she thought he would. She watched Dumbledores face again. He was trying to think of the easiest way to say what he was thinking. He was trying to talk to Hannah, specifically how he thought Hannah wanted him to talk to her. He didn't want to sound sympathetic, nor did he want to ignore the fact that Hannah didn't really seem anywhere near as well off as any of the other students at the school, but he couldn't decide on the way he wanted to convey his thoughts.  
"Ignore it." Hannah stated. Dumbledore appeared taken aback by her actually saying something. He was somewhat confused how she knew what he was thinking, but that simple statement cleared all his uncertain thoughts from his head. She only said 2 words, but they provided every inch of clarity she had intended. She didn't care what he thought or how he conveyed it, she simply just wants to get to the point. Words don't matter to her, actions do. Dumbledore finished analysing her as he let out a small smile as he glanced into her hazel eyes.  
"I think we better floo over to Diagon Alley then." Dumbledore walked over to the stone gargoyles. "Peppermint," he voiced, as the passage opened, and the stairway to his office appeared.

**Now I wrote these first chapters on my phone, so there might be a bit of formatting problems, and dare I say, there might be a bit of autocorrect problems. I have read over these chapters several times, but let me know if there's any mistakes. Thanks for reading :)**


	3. Chapter 3

Dumbledore and Hannah walked along the stone brick road, called Diagon Alley. Hannah hung back a bit, she didn't think it necessary to be directly by his side, that'd only entice conversation, or else prove awkward to be side by side and completely silent. Hannah glanced around, she had never been to Diagon Alley, in fact, she didn't even know it existed. She hadn't grown up in the wizarding world, even though she was pure blood.

Hannah wasn't phased by most of the things she saw. A lot of the shops they passed were food stores. Hannah hadn't eaten in a while, she didn't really want to eat at the feast last night, she wasn't used to full meals, or free food. She hated the smell of cooked food, it didn't really make her feel hungry, but more or less made her feel sick. She was quite happy living off fruit and veg.

Dumbledore stopped walking and turned to face Hannah. "You're going to need a few books, potion ingredients, quills, a wand, and a pet if you like. It'd be easier if I were to get you your stationery, and I'll give you some money so you can get yourself a wand and a pet. I think you're clever enough to find the shops on your own. I will meet you back here in 20 minutes." Dumbledore handed Hannah a handful of Galleons, and turned towards Potage's Cauldron Shop. Hannah was pleased that Dumbledore understood that she preferred instruction in comparison to help. Hannah walked over to Ollivander's Wand Shop, where a greying man stood behind the counter, waiting.

"Who might this young lady be? I haven't seen you here before, you look at least a 4th year." Hannah wasn't surprised how a man of his age can be ignorant at age guessing, but then again, Hannah didn't exactly look like a 17 year old. She was much too short and thin, and swam in the robes she had borrowed from Dumbledore the day before.  
"Hannah Byron." She stated, again saying no more or less than she needed. Ollivander analysed the girl by her attitude and looks, and headed to the back of the shop to pick out wands.

Ollivander returned with three boxes in his hand. He placed the boxes on the counter, and gently lifted the first wand out of the box. It were a dark brown wand, around 10 inches, and felt very rigid. Ollivander handed the wand to Hannah, as she felt a cold feeling go throughout her body. She shook her head, and placed the wand back in the box. Ollivander pulled a wand out of the second box. A very attractive wand, about 13 inches, rather flexible, which shone silver. Ollivander stared at the wand for a long while, before handing it over to Hannah. This time a hot feeling went through her, not a comfortable feeling at all. She placed the wand back in the box, and shook her head. Ollivander sighed deeply, the next wand rather intrigued him. It wasn't often that two woods would be made into one wand. Ollivander handed an 11 inch wand over to Hannah. It had an elegant silver handle, and a deep brown body. Hannah's fingers automatically clenched around the wand, as a warm feeling empowered her veins. Ollivander looked up at Hannah, as her pale skin suddenly filled with colour. "Pine with Silver Lime handle, dragon heart string core, 11 inches, sturdy. This is a very rare wand, Silver Lime alone is rare, and highly valuable. This is the first wand that I have seen which combines Silver Lime with another wood." Ollivander looked up at Hannah, hoping for a change in expression on her face, but knew that he wouldn't see one. "That'll be 7 Galleons." He said, knowing that Hannah was disinterested in anything else he could say about the wand. Hannah reached into her pocket and pulled out some galleons, and placed them all on the counter. She didn't actually know the value of wizard money, but assumed each gold coin was one galleon. She slid 7 galleons out of the pile, and put the rest in her pocket, taking her wand, nodding to Ollivander, and departing the store.

Hannah left the pet store with a black kitten perched on her shoulder, and walked to where Dumbledore said he would meet her. As she arrived, she saw Dumbledore depart from Flourish and Blotts book store, holding a cauldron full with stationery. "Done?" Dumbledore questioned, as he smiled at the kitten on Hannah's shoulder. Hannah nodded, and Dumbledore decided that he would apparate with Hannah back to Hogwarts.

As their feet touched ground, inside Dumbledores office, Dumbledore eyed Hannah, hoping that he would at least see emotion on her face from the gut wrenching apparation. Nothing. Hannah watched over Dumbledores face, she knew he wanted to see Hannah react to the apparation, but of course he didn't know that Hannah had apparated before, in fact on countless occasions. "Just so you know, Hannah, I'm the only one with the ability to apparate in and out of Hogwarts. There's multiple enchantments stopping anyone else from apparating within the school. Now, I understand that this is the first wand you've owned," Dumbledore gestured to the wand in her hand, "and you mightn't be familiar with most of the spells and techniques which the 7th years have learnt throughout their schooling. If you wish to, I will dedicate half an hour a day to teaching you the simple spells and techniques. Does that appeal to you?" Dumbledore knew she wouldn't want to, but felt it necessary to hint that he knew she had very little experience with schooling and the wizarding world. She appeared like a very closed person, and his only way of opening her up would be to let her know that he wasn't ignorant of what she's been through, or at least, a majority of it. Hannah looked up at Dumbledore. He knew a lot about her, she realised that, she knew that he was subtly hinting that he knew. She didn't know whether it bothered her or pleased her. Yes, it was unsettling knowing that this man knew a bit about her, considering she has been independent most of her life. But it was relieving, knowing that she didn't need to explain anything, so he didn't expect too much from her. She knew the man wanted her to open up to him a bit, but she also knew that he was aware that she wasn't going to very easily. She wasn't going to at all. She didn't need to, and it won't change things, whether he did or didn't know about her. She shook her head to answer his question. She didn't want to rely on someone else to teach her, she was aware that there was a library at the school. That'd be enough for her to learn from. She certainly didn't want to be alone with anyone for half an hour a day, knowing that Dumbledores intentions were more or less to uncover her, rather than teach her. Dumbledore nodded in understanding. "Very well, I suggest you head off to potions, it's 8:50am as we speak. Good luck, I am here if you have any enquiries." Dumbledore gestured his hand to the door, as it unlocked itself and swung open slowly. Hannah walked out of the door, heading down to the dungeon.

**Right, now things will start to actually happen. The main stuffing around, getting organised for the year is basically over, and the next two chapters will include detail about Hannah's first classes. From here the main plot will begin to unravel, and things will get a lot more interesting to read, I promise! :)**

**Anyway, thanks for reading this far. **


	4. Chapter 4

**Now I have been doing a fair bit of research to make sure I'm getting details correct, although some aspects may be completely made up and not of the typical wizarding world, or may not completely correlate to the layout and curriculum of Hogwarts. I am trying though :) **

Snape stood upright, next to the blackboard, with his hands behind his back. He had Gryffindor and Slytherin 7th years as his very first lesson. He wasn't particularly looking forward to it, he despised being in the same room as the Weasley twins. Snape glowered at the door as he heard the first group enter the room. A bunch of Slytherins. It made sense that they were the first to enter, as their common room was on the same floor, but it also gave him reason to scold the Gryffindors. Oh, how he wished the last person to enter to room was a Gryffindor, perhaps that'd be his first load of points to deduct from the pathetic house. A few more students entered the room, this time Gryffindors. He glanced around the room, taking note of all the students in the class. He knew he would have a small classroom this year. He had only expected 9 students.

After a minute longer of waiting, Snape heard a racket in the hallways. He sighed. The Weasleys. They entered the room with unnecessarily cheesy grins on their faces. Snape eyed them dangerously, as he watched them take their seats. They barely flinched under his threatening stare, but there was something, some small sign of fear. That pleased Snape more than anything.

He pointed his wand to a pile of books which dispersed onto each students' desk. He hated using the books that the students purchased from Flourish and Blotts, he always thought his own findings more accurate.

"Today we'll be brewing a simple sle-" Snapes eyes flung violently to the door, who on earth would dare be this late? He saw the small blond girl walk in and sit on her desk. "Miss Byron," he drawled, "How very brave of you, waltzing in 5 minutes later than asked of you." Snape glowered at her, as dangerously as he could. He was surprised to see she didn't flinch in the slightest. "See me after class, so we can deal with your pathetic time keeping." Snape again looked displeased when he saw no reaction from the girl. Nobody, not anyone, could withstand his brutal stare. Silly girl probably didn't know how dangerous he could be. "As I was saying, we will be brewing a simple sleeping draught, the instructions are on page 47. If any of you shall fail to brew this simple potion, then you'll be in detention scrubbing cauldrons. Am I clear?" Snape looked dangerously from student to student, to ensure his threat was taken seriously.

Hannah was familiar with how to brew sleeping draught, although her technique was somewhat different to that in the book. She read over the instructions. Wave your wand? These people think you need to wave your wand in order to brew a potion? Are they honestly that ignorant? Angered by the ignorance of some people, Hannah decided to just follow the instructions in the book, considering the only ingredients placed in front of her was that of the ones written in the book. She added the Lavender, Valerian Sprigs, and Flobberworm Mucus to the cauldron the way the book suggested, but instead of waving her wand, she waved her hand over the cauldron.

Snape walked around the room slowly, staring uncomfortably over the students shoulders as they worked. Everyone seemed to have their potion perfect, except for, of course, the Weasley twins, who purposely made a mess of the potion to anger their professor. "I assume you two think yourselves funny for proving you're both a complete disgrace?" Snape drawled. The twins looked up at Snape simultaneously,  
"Actually," George started,  
"We think ourselves having a lot more fun than the rest of your students." Fred finished.  
"If it hasn't occurred to you," Snape scowled, "school is meant to be about achievement, not fun."  
Snape deepened his violent stare at the twins, "and the potion was in fact meant for the hospital wing. Do you find amusement in depriving the ill of their medication?" The twins looked at each other, frustrated that the professor actually made a good point.  
"I'll be seeing both of you after class. You can accompany Miss Byron with scrubbing cauldrons." He glanced in the direction of Hannah, to see if she reacted in any way, and instead found himself staring at a girl who had her head face down, on her arms which were rested upon the desk. How dare she look so bored in his classroom? An unfamiliar voice inside his head spoke, "Maybe it's because you only set one simple piece of work, or hadn't that occurred to you?" Snape focused his eyes back onto Hannah, then realised she was staring back at him now. Snape decided to let it slip by, and continued to scold the twins instead.

Everyone else had left the classroom, so only Snape, Hannah, and the Weasley twins were left. "Weasleys, return after dinner, you'll be scrubbing every single cauldron in this room with your bare hands, without magic, alongside Byron." Snape glanced at Hannah, once again to see no expression on her face. "Weasleys, go to your next class. Byron, stay behind." Fred and George left the room without turning back, whacking each other in the arm accusingly.

"I suppose, Miss Byron, you have a reason to have been late. Perhaps you got lost? Failing to follow my simple instruction to stick with Draco. I suppose a silly little girl like yourself thought yourself too clever and important to be shown around." He scowled at Hannah, surely this'll set her off. Serves her right for walking into his class late.  
"I was with Dumbledore."  
Snape glared at her. So she does have a reason. How can I pick something out this time? I can't let a silly little girl out argue me.  
"That's professor Dumbledore to you. I suppose you think yourself too important to acknowledge people by their proper names?" That's sure to set her off. He looked at her expectantly, yet still portraying his dangerous glare. Snape heard the voice emit into his thoughts again, "That's rich coming from you, I believe my name doesn't just consist of the name 'Byron'." Snapes eyes refocused, Hannah was staring back up at him. Snape thought the words, "you can hear my thoughts can't you?"  
The voice replied, "Yes."

**Elaboration on why Hannah has the ability to communicate with Snape's thoughts will be coming up in the next chapters. I promise there will be no gaps in reasoning. Everything written has a purpose :)**

**Thanks for reading this far, it means a lot :)**

**Please let me know how my writing technique is, and how I can make it better. Thank you :)**


	5. Chapter 5

**Rightio, thank you so much if you have read this far. This chapter is the last chapter of the introduction, everything from here will go faster. This chapter may seem a bit choppy, but I felt the need to have a bit of description for most of subjects and some of the characters. **

Hannah's next class was transfiguration with Professor Mcgonagall. The class was filled with reminiscent Hufflepuffs, after their recent loss of their classmate, Cedric Diggory, and unenthusiastic Slytherins. Mcgonagall thought she would brighten the mood of the classroom by teaching the Avis charm, which was used to conjure birds. Hannah didn't bother participating in the class, but instead just sat at the back watching everyone else. The classroom had a reasonably pleasant atmosphere, while birds were gracefully fluttering around, and playing with the students. All until the birds decided to defecate everywhere, although the students did find this somewhat amusing, it left Mcgonagall in a slightly foul mood. As the bell rang, the class left the room as fast as possible, to escape the wraith of the angered professor. How cowardly, thought Hannah. To treat one who is already in a bad mood, as if they're some repulsive, screaming mandrake, wasn't necessarily going to enlighten their mood whatsoever. Hannah stayed behind, not because she wanted to be friendly, but simply because she didn't want someone else to be unhappy, purely out of the actions of others. Hannah drifted her hand across the classroom from where she was standing, as the splattered feces absorbed into nothingness. Satisfied with the result, Hannah left the room to head off for break.

Hannah walked down to the kitchens, to take some raw meat back to the common room for her kitten, Spero. She arrived at the common room, holding a piece of raw beef, to find Spero, sprawled out on a couch farthest from any of the students in the room. Spero's head piped up, as the smell of beef touched his nose. The kitten stood up and stretched, then walked over to where Hannah was standing, at the entrance of the common room. Amused, Hannah picked up the kitten, placed it on her shoulder, and then entered the girls' dormitory, where she fed her kitten, laid in bed, then opened up her Book of Spells, Grade 7.

Hannah's next subject was double Herbology, where they learnt to extract the venom from Venomous Tentacula leaves. They learnt that the Tentacula venom acts like a poison if consumed, and turns the drinker purple and makes their insides burn. Despite the warning, this didn't stop a Slytherin boy, Cassius Warrington, from biting a leaf for attention, and ending himself up in the hospital wing. This made most of the Slytherins laugh at his misfortune, and the Ravenclaws groan in disgust of his ignorance. Hannah and Adrian Pucey were the only Slytherins who didn't find this act amusing, although neither seemed to be phased by his actions at all.

For lunch, Hannah went back to the dormitory to read more in her Standard Book of Spells, to catch up on most of the spells which have already been taught to most 7th years. As Hannah was reading about a spell to reveal human presence, Homenum Revelio, she felt a breath of air hit the side of her face. She turned to see a tanned skinned girl reading over her shoulder. "I've never seen you before." The girl stated. Hannah felt like rolling her eyes. Hannah very rarely made conversation with anyone, yet knew that that was the most pathetic way to start a conversation she ever heard. She ignored the girl and continued reading. Surely she mustn't expect a response to a closed statement. "Excuse me, I'm talking to you." Hannah moved her eyes towards the girl, without moving her head, just so the girl could see that Hannah was acknowledging her, but not necessarily wanting to communicate, then she moved her eyes back onto her book again. "I'm a prefect you know, I can give you detention if I wanted. What are you anyway? A fourth year? Shouldn't you be outside playing with your little friends?" Hannah looked back at the girl, this time lifting her entire head. She closed the book so the girl could read the cover, 'Standard Book of Spells Grade 7'. "What's your point? You read 7th year books, congratulations." Frustrated, Hannah packed up her books and headed to her next classes, without looking back at the 5th year.

Her next classes were Divination and Charms. Hannah sat at the back of the classroom of Divination, not in the slightest interested in some silly old bag falsely interpreting the future in a reflective crystal ball. Everyone else in the class was either chattering, or becoming fully involved in predicting the death of their fellow classmates, everyone, except for Adrian Pucey, who like Hannah, was sitting at the back of the class, lost in a book he had on his lap.

Charms class was by far the least enjoyable subject of the day. They were learning the water conjuring spell, Aguamenti. At first it was a highly informative and productive lesson, where Professor Flitwick taught the spell, down to conjuring water non-verbally, but in the end the lesson turned out to be a massive water fight. Hannah hated water ever since she was 7, and left half way through the lesson to avoid getting wet. She wouldn't have stayed in the room even if she were paid a thousand galleons, even drinking water made Hannah cringe.

Hannah decided she would go to dinner, but only to get an apple and some meat for Spero. She went to her dormitory to give her kitten the food, ate the apple in bed while patting Spero, and made her way to potions for her detention.

She knocked on the the black wooden door, and the drawn out, deep voice drawled, "Come in." Hannah opened the door, to see Snape, like before, scribbling his quill across a piece of parchment. "You're early." Snape drawled, without looking up.  
"I'm on time. You said after dinner, it's after dinner." Said the voice inside his head. Snape looked up, and Hannah was standing at the door, looking back at him. "I'd appreciate if you were to speak to me normally." Scolded Snape.  
"It's just as productive, is it not?" Hannah replied, in a monotone voice.  
"I'd appreciate it," Snape started, in an irritated voice, "if I could think without having to worry about my thought being invaded by a silly girl who can't be bothered to speak." Hannah thought over this statement. Can I be bothered to speak? Yes, I just didn't want to. The more I vocalize, the more chance I have of saying something I'd regret. By penetrating someone else's thoughts, it can easily be mistaken for their own thoughts, and not my interference with their thoughts. I'd only ever say something aloud if it's absolutely necessary. I'm never going to say the wrong thing at the wrong time ever again.

Snape watched Hannah as she was analysing something in her head. How on earth is she capable of penetrating my mind? I have the occlumency skills sufficient to stop the best legilimens known to the wizarding world, the Dark Lord himself, from penetrating my mind. Surely this girl, who seemed to have not even the slightest knowledge of how to use a wand, couldn't have legilimency skills superior to that of the Dark Lord.

A knock on the door brought both of the Slytherins back to reality. The Weasley twins entered together, not looking as smug as they were in their potions lesson. "You're late." Scolded Snape. Hannah refrained from rolling her eyes, she had already established that Snape would do nearly anything to scold someone, and to set them down on a lower level than himself. She knew that if he would, at any time of his life, treat you as an equal, that would be the day that the sky has fallen.  
"Actually, professor, we're on time. You said to come here after dinner, it is after dinner." Fred said with a hint of sarcasm. Snape looked at Hannah suspiciously, then looked back at the twins.  
"Well, you should have eaten faster." Snape turned on his heels and went to his back room, and came back levitating a stack of cauldrons. "I'll take all of your wands, and return them to you when you've finished. If I see even a spot on these cauldrons by time you're finished, you'll return here every night of the week, until October, to clean cauldrons. Do I make myself clear?" The twins nodded, and handed him their wands. Hannah followed suit. "Right, I will be on duty in the halls, I will be back within a couple hours." He looked back at the twins. "If I see anything, out of place, damaged, dirtied, emplaced, jinxed, or charmed, you will be out of Hogwarts before you know it." From there, Snape walked out of the rooms, with his long black cloak trailing behind him.

"Damn." Said Fred, "I can't spot a loophole in that one, what about you, George?"  
"I think he might've covered everything, Fred. What about you, Hannah?"  
"Hmm?" Hannah asked, confused by what they were intending to do. She moved over to Snape's bookshelf to scan over his books.  
"What can we do to make this more entertaining, is what we mean." Replied George.  
"Define entertaining." Hannah said, in a bored tone, as her eyes rested upon a potion book, based on dangerous potions and poisons.  
"Oh come on, you can't possibly be that much of a boring Slytherin. You know, how can we make things fun for ourselves. What can we play with, how can we do this easily, how can we waste time?" Fred responded, as he sat on Snape's desk.  
"Oh right." Hannah drifted her hand over the cauldrons as they cleaned up perfectly in front of her. Fred and George stared at her, amazed.  
"Wow." George mused.  
"Well, who knew? You can actually do wandless magic." Fred added. Hannah blew out a bit more air out of her nose than usual, amused. She knew they were being sarcastic, but she also knew they weren't actually familiar with the fact that wandless magic was possible. From just this one encounter with the boys, she had established that neither of them really cared if someone said the right or wrong thing, they were both quite experienced with saying the wrong thing at the wrong time. They weren't easily hurt, and would still find the light in the dark moments. She knew that, if she wanted, she could talk to these guys and say basically anything. Not that she wanted to. But she knew she could.  
"Wandless magic is basically the same as normal magic." Stated Hannah. This was probably the longest conversation she has ever had in the past 10 years, but she knew she had to fill in the next hour and a half with something.  
"What do you mean?" Fred started, "Normal magic basically revolves around having a wand."  
"Fred," Hannah started to feel frustrated with their ignorance, although she found it very hard to be angry with their stupidity, they just seemed too amusing to get angry with. "Do elves have wands?" Hannah watched Fred and George as the mulled over their thoughts. "Wands merely just enhance magic. Try it if you don't believe me." Fred and George looked between themselves, and simultaneously started yelling jinxes at each other. Hannah blew air out of her nose again, amused. At least this won't be as boring as they predicted.

**Thank you for reading this far, please leave me a review and let me know how my writing is so far. Like I've said, this is my first piece of writing, so I'm not sure how understandable it is, or interesting in the matter. There will be a lot more interaction in the next chapter, and less description. Thank you again, also leave a review with your predictions of what you think will happen. :)**


	6. Chapter 6

**This chapter is my first being fully revolved around dialogue. I hope it isn't too confusing. Thank you for reading this far :)**

After the twins had finished performing their counter-curses on each other, Snape arrived back into his room, looking grim as ever. He strode over to the cauldrons, peered into them, and looked disgusted when he saw them absolutely spotless. "Why, might I ask, are the scrubbing brushes absolutely clean?"  
"We cleaned them." George piped up, he looked uneasy, considering he hadn't thought of the argument.  
"And why did you clean them, Mr Weasley?"  
"You specifically said, not to have anything 'out of place, damaged, dirtied, emplaced, jinxed, or charmed', we considered a brush covered in potion guck to be dirtied. Wouldn't you agree?" Fred added, then looked at George, and winked. Snape looked overly annoyed that the boys' seemed to actually use their initiative. Or was it Hannah? Of course it was Hannah.  
"In that case, Mr Weasley, you should be very thankful that you had a Slytherin's company to convince you thick skulls to use your initiative. You may go." Snape held out his hand with their wands in it, the twins grabbed their wands and scattered out of the door as quick as possible. "Hannah, stay behind."

Snape looked dangerously over Hannah, before holding Hannah's wand horizontally out in front of himself. "I am no expert, Miss Byron, but this wood is unmistakeable. This wand appears to contain the wood, Silver Lime, am I correct?" Hannah nodded in response. "Do you have any idea of the characteristics of a Silver Lime wand, Miss Byron?"  
"No." She answered. She didn't know, nor did she necessarily care. Her wand had very little importance to her.  
"Have you ever heard of the skills, Legilimency?" Snape asked, with a bored expression and tone.  
"No." Hannah began to get frustrated with Snape's performance of 21 questions. It'd be a lot easier on the both of them if he had just explained everything in one paragraph.  
"Legilimency is the act of penetrating one's mind, navigating through the many layers of it, resulting in either seeing their memories, or hearing their thoughts, dependent on the layer of the mind you navigate." Snape lectured, in an equally bored tone. He glared at Hannah, to see she had no intention of responding, so he decided to cut to the point, "Silver Lime, Miss Byron, only chooses witches or wizards which excel in the skill of Legilimency." Snape stopped, to rethink his intentions of this conversation. He was curious, how this girl knew Legilimency to such an extent. To use Legilimency in general was a hard skill to learn, but to use Legilimency, non-verbally, and wandlessly, was next to impossible. Snape himself, personally couldn't perform the spell, Legilimens, without using his wand, although he was capable of performing it non-verbally. Snape needed to know every inch of detail about why Hannah was such a skilled Legilimens, but didn't know how to approach it. It wasn't often that his curiosity would override his preference to be introverted. If he could help it, he would only talk if he were teaching or scolding someone. But then again, who was Hannah going to relay the information about him being overly curious and talkative to? She was just as introverted as he was. He hadn't heard her ever say more than 10 words in a conversation. Why was she so introverted? Was she just genuinely shy? Why hadn't she even come to school until 7th year? His head reeled with questions, as Hannah just stood there, modestly avoiding penetrating his mind. He asked me not to, so I won't, she thought.

"It has come to my attention, Miss Byron, that you are a highly skilled Legilimens. Why you are, is above me." Snape Drawled. He couldn't let his curiosity dilute his usual, cold aura. Hannah thought over the way he was talking to her. She would've looked out of the window to see if the sky had fallen, if the classroom even had windows. He wasn't scolding her, nor was he necessarily teaching her. He was merely curious. Hannah hated when people had curiosity about her, she hated people being interested in her at all. If she had it her way, she would live out in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by nothing but animals. She watched Snape's face as he mulled over his thoughts. He was curious about why Hannah was good at Legilimency. If Hannah was honest with herself, she didn't actually know she was casting a spell when she read peoples' minds. She had just grown accustomed to it over the years. She had never liked talking, and always tried focusing on peoples' expressions instead, until she realized that eventually, she could actually divulge into their thoughts, and could even make her own voice heard in them if she wanted. This, perhaps, is why she hated people so much. She knew exactly what they were thinking, and, although they never vocalized their thoughts half of the time, it told her who those people really were. She had never really come across a genuine person, who never really had thoughts against her. She had never come across someone who wasn't overanalysing her, to the extent of false interpretation. Everyone seemed to be under the impression that Hannah was an attention seeking, sinister, troublesome 13 year old. Just because she avoided talking, didn't mean she actually wanted people to wedge the words out of her mouth. She just wanted to be left alone, she didn't want to have to vocalize things which were absolutely unnecessary to vocalize in the first place. Just because she didn't talk, didn't mean she was secretly planning the world's downfall inside her head.

"I am merely interested in how you have come to be such a skilled Legilimens. I have seen no significant spell casting, no interest in learning, and no magical talent, whatsoever. The fact that you should enter this school, with the ability to divulge into other peoples' minds, is nothing more or less than suspicious. It is a danger to the people in our school, and requires further investigation. We cannot allow a random, new 7th year, with no evident background, come marching into the school with the ability to control the minds of our vulnerable students." Snape scolded her, he had overthought this lecture, he couldn't let this girl believe he was curious. He couldn't portray himself as anything but a nasty introvert. He didn't want to be seen as anything else. It'd ruin him, to have anyone, especially someone with the ability to penetrate his mind, see him as someone who has another layer below his cold, nasty, unemotional exterior. He hoped though, that she would explain herself, after this threat which could potentially result in her fearing the possibility of being expelled. He didn't really have any concerns for the students of the school, but it was a very plausible argument to be brought up by anyone who didn't have intelligence near to his.

Hannah stood there, unemotional still. She knew he couldn't care less about the students of the school, and she couldn't care less if she was expelled from the school. In fact she relished the possibility. Although she thought he an idiot, if he expected her to just reveal her entire past to him then and there. She loathed his curiosity. He is nothing short of a Dumbledore. Pure nosy. She never intended on revealing what had happened in her past to anyone. If someone as supposedly intellectual as Snape, can't distinguish any possible reasons why she had the ability to read minds, then nobody would. Out of all of the professors, he was definitely the most relatable to her, he was the only other teacher who had the ability to completely conceal his emotions. She knew he'd be able to relate to having a past hidden deep within himself, she knew that there was something that drove him to be introverted and cold. But she didn't care what. It was irrelevant from her. At least she had the ability to control her curiosity.

Hannah walked up to Snape and held out her hand, implying that she wanted her wand handed back to her. "Miss Byron, denying your teachers' information can and will result in detention or expulsion." Snape averred. He knew he wouldn't even go as far as putting her on detention for not revealing to him some possibly sensitive information, he knew if he were in her position, and was being juice for information on his past, he would stop at no length to assure that they would pay for their inquisitiveness.

Hannah turned on her heels and walked out of the room, without saying another word. He had the opportunity to fill in his mistakes of being over-curious, and he ruined it trying to boast his authority. She didn't need her wand anyway. She hadn't even used it since she acquired it.

Snape stood there, shocked. She had looked him straight in the eye, and defied him. She willingly challenged him, challenged his authority, challenged him, knowing that he wouldn't go through with his threats. Or did she know? Did she want to be expelled? Or perhaps the information he was trying to divulge in, was so sensitive, that she was willing to risk expulsion to avoid relaying it. Snape stood there, bewildered. He spent the rest of the night mulling over theories through his head, trying to figure out how such a gutless looking girl, turned out to be a somewhat talented, fearless one.

**Thank you for reading this chapter! :) Please please please leave a review, let me know how my writing technique is, point out any mistakes, let me know whether it is too confusing. I'll answer all questions I promise :) **


	7. Chapter 7

**Thanks for reading this far - this chapter was rather hard for me to write, purely because I found it difficult to refrain from using expletives. **

The next day, Hannah had Defence Against the Dark Arts first period. She made her way to the classroom, after feeding her kitten, Spero. She was mildly pleased to find out that the Slytherins shared the class with the Gryffindors, she didn't exactly admire the Hufflepuffs, after their cowardly ditch from Professor Mcgonagall, and absolutely loathed the Ravenclaws after their unnecessary water fight. Besides, she couldn't deny that being in the same classroom as the Weasley twins was somewhat entertaining.

She sat at a desk, farthest away from the front, again ignoring her terrible long-distance eyesight. A lady, just a little bit taller than Hannah, trotted into the classroom purposefully, with her head held higher than that of a normal person. She had a toad-like face, and everything she wore was unbearably pink. She stood at the head of the classroom, over-looking the students, with her hands held behind her back, and her chest puffed out, resembling that of someone with an inflated ego. "Ahem." The woman coughed, in a ridiculously high pitch squeal. The class looked towards the woman, absolutely bewildered by the ridiculous sound that emitted from the old bat. "This lesson, we will be planning study timetables. Your N.E.W.T exams will be our top priority for this year, and our lessons will revolve around studying, and revising all that has been taught throughout your schooling years. I will provide you each with a book, 'Defence Against the Dark Arts for Beginners', and you are expected to write an essay, summarising each chapter after we have revised it in class. Any questions?" Fred and George raised their hands simultaneously, after Professor Umbridge finished her lecture.  
"Miss, why are we supposedly learning from a beginner's book? It's even lower grade than the stuff we learnt in first year." Complained George.  
"Excuse me Mr Weasley, but I didn't ask you to speak. You will only speak if I point to you. Let's try that again, any questions?" George rolled his eyes and looked toward his brother to see if he had a similar reaction. Fred in return rolled his eyes back, and raised his hand. "Yes, Mr Weasley?"  
"Dear Miss Professor Umbridge the Great, I apologize for my twin brother's absence of manners. I just wish to inquire on why we are learning from a children's book, when we are all at least 17." Fred prattled, in a sarcastic tone. George let out a burst of air out of his nose in amusement. Umbridge looked dangerously at the twins and answered,  
"I do not appreciate sarcasm in my classroom, Mr Weasley, nor do I encourage any type of laughter or jokes. It has come to my attention, that your previous Defence Against the Dark Arts professors, had no grasp on the concept of examinations, and instead taught you highly dangerous magic. I, by no means, encourage any magic use in this classroom, and am committed to teaching you in the safest, most efficient way possible. I am here on behalf of the ministry, and should you protest my teaching methods, you are distantly protesting the entire of the ministry. You will be learning from a beginner's book, as this is the safest and most informative book. Now, for homework you will be learning about the dangers of werewolves and half-breeds."

Hannah sat there, listening in on the argument. Although she didn't necessarily care about how and what they learnt at this school, something about this teacher made her want to strangle the woman. She very rarely felt emotion, she would always try override it with the fact that she didn't really care what someone else had to say. But this woman was purely ignorant, she was the perfect example of everything Hannah hated in one. A woman against half breeds, someone obsessed with their authority, someone who perhaps, would harm something innocent, in order to heighten their status. The thought made her cringe. Hannah looked towards the woman, and navigated her way through the woman's mind.

"Excuse me? Who said that?" Professor Umbridge looked about the room frantically. "That language will not be tolerated in my classroom! Half breeds are filthy creatures! An animal should never have the equal rights of humans!" Professor Umbridge began heating up terribly on the spot, looking about the classroom for the source of the voice. She covered her ears and squealed, before waddling quickly to the door of the classroom, slamming it behind herself, and ran frantically sobbing to Dumbledore's office. Hannah sat there, satisfied with herself. Everyone in the classroom looked between themselves, puzzled, while Fred and George burst out laughing. Hannah got up from her desk and left the classroom.

Hannah began walking down the hall, to the common room, when she heard rushed footsteps approaching quickly from behind her. She turned around to find Fred and George running towards her, with massive grins on their faces. "You did that, didn't you Hannah?" Fred asked, excitedly. He was so excited with the thought that a Slytherin would actually cause an evil teacher to scatter from the classroom.  
"Might've." Hannah replied. She didn't necessarily care if they knew or not, yet she couldn't deny that she thought it hilarious that they automatically assumed it was her. Then again, she probably did give it away when she was the only one in the classroom that didn't look confused by the events.  
"What did you actually do to her?" Fred asked, with a smile still spread across his face.  
"Just hope that you don't find out for yourselves." Hannah joked. She didn't really see much point in telling them straight up, it wasn't like it was going to make any difference. She dismissed the twins by going down the stairwell, towards the Slytherin common room.

After spending 10 minutes feeding and patting Spero, Hannah made her way over to her next class, Transfiguration. Alike to last time, Hannah just sat at the back of the class and watched, as the students learnt Multicorfors, a spell to change the colour of clothes. Halfway through the lesson, Mcgonagall approached Hannah sitting in her seat. "Miss Byron, can I please have a word to you outside the classroom?" Hannah obeyed and followed the elderly witch to the door. "I would just like to start off by saying thank you for cleaning up after class yesterday, that was a very considerate thing for you to do." Mcgonagall looked over to Hannah, who merely just nodded. "I would also like to ask, why you are reluctant on participating in my class?" Hannah mulled her thoughts over. She didn't care to participate, she didn't want to, she felt no need to, she didn't want to be there, she saw no use in changing the colour of her clothes, and the easiest excuse, she didn't even have a wand.  
"No wand." Hannah replied. Mcgonagall face gave a quizzical expression.  
"Why is it that you do not have a wand, Miss Byron?" Mcgonagall asked, she knew she had seen Hannah with her wand the day before, although she had never seen her use it, just merely have it sitting next to her on her desk, which she basically slept at the whole lesson.

Hannah felt amused that she could have Mcgonagall question Snape about why he was in possession of Hannah's wand, in fact, if Hannah were lucky enough, he might even relay the events of the night before, and she might even get expelled. Of course, she knew it was highly unlikely.  
"Ask Snape." Hannah responded to her question.  
"Alright, Miss Byron, I will talk to him about it later today. Although I would like to see more participation from you in future classes. You may go back inside." Hannah made her way back to her desk, where she sat, with her head on her desk, for the rest of the lesson.

The last lesson that Hannah had that day was potions. She entered the room behind the last group of Slytherins, and sat down at the only spare seat, next to Adrian Pucey. "This lesson you will be brewing a healing potion called 'Essence of Dittany', you will be working in pairs, as Dittany isn't necessarily a very common herb. You will find the instructions on page 69." Snape Drawled.

Hannah looked over at Adrian. He was a very handsome, tall, boy with dark brown hair. Adrian looked back at Hannah, and nodded, to agree that they'd be pairs for the task. Although they never spoke the whole lesson, they ultimately were a well corresponding pair, with Hannah measuring the ingredients, and Adrian putting them in the cauldron and stirring. They successfully brewed the potion, and began packing up before most of the class. As Hannah was about to leave that class, she felt a hand grasp to her shoulder. She turned around to see Snape standing there, eyeing her coldly.

"Aren't you forgetting something?" Snape drawled. He was still determined on finding out how Hannah was so skilled at Legilimency. Aside from Potions and Dark Arts, Legilimency was his best skill. Hannah looked Snape directly in the eyes,  
"I don't need it." Hannah stated. She didn't care what he said anymore. She was so determined to get out of this school. All the teachers she had come across, she despised just as much as each other. Despite last night, when Snape conveyed threats merely to cover his own curiosity, Hannah knew that if she pulled the right strings, she might even get herself expelled.  
"According to Professor Mcgonagall, Miss Byron, apparently you do." Snape scolded. Why on earth would she think she didn't need a wand, when a school and teaching methods literally revolve around the use of a wand?  
"She's mistaken." Hannah objected.  
"I would avoid arguing with a teacher, if I were you. You're treading on thin ground, Miss Byron." Snape scowled dangerously. The voice in his head emitted, "Well, then you better step off it before it breaks." Snape glared at Hannah. What was she implying? He stopped thinking when it crossed his mind that she could hear his thoughts. He handed Hannah's wand back to her. "Get out." He scolded, before striding into his back rooms and slamming his door.

Somewhat disappointed that he didn't threaten to expel her, Hannah made her way to her dormitory to get her kitten, then walked up to the library. She loaded a pile of books onto a desk then separated them into several piles. She had about 3 book on Potions, including the one she had an eye on in Snape's class, a book on Herbology and potion ingredients, and a book on offensive spells.

Hermione Granger was seated about a dozen places down from where Hannah sat. She watched Hannah intently. She had never seen a Slytherin girl come to the library before, let alone straight after a class to study at least 3 different subjects. She found Hannah intriguing to say the least. The only other Slytherin she had ever seen in the library is that 7th year boy. She finished analysing the girl, then returned to her own study.

About an hour later, Hannah put most of her books back, but placed one book, Moste Potente Potions, which was based around dangerous potions and poisons, into her robes. She walked towards the library exit, and noticed Adrian sitting at a table by himself, watching Hannah as she walked past. She looked back at him, nodded in acknowledgement, and headed to the Great Hall with Spero, so he could sniff out his own favourite food.

**Thank you for reading yet another chapter of my fanfic! Please review and let me know how I'm going. Also, should I refrain from using swearwords, or should I allow certain characters' emotions to take over? Your input is everything :) If you'd like to be apart of this story, comment your character's name, house, and year, and I'll find a way to fit you into the story. Thanks again! :)**


	8. Chapter 8

**Now we are getting into some real depth of where the story is heading towards. I'll still be updating daily (most likely), so please follow this story, review, favorite, whatever. It means a lot to see that people are actually appreciating the time I'm putting into writing this. :) **

The next morning, Hannah did her usual routine of awaking before the rest of the girls, getting changed behind a curtain, and returning to her bed to pet Spero, but this time, her routine was interrupted. As Hannah went to return to her bed, she noticed a tanned skinned girl standing beside it, waiting for her.  
"Yes?" Hannah asked, with a hint of sarcasm in her voice. She hated the girl from the last encounter, there wasn't anything that could possibly make her like the girl. She was about as ignorant as they come.  
"I want an apology for your lack of respect last time." The girl replied, in an overly proud tone. Hannah's thoughts reeled. She wanted an apology for lack of respect? Who was the one that made the assumption that I was a fourth year? Who was the one who threatened to put me on detention just because she had the authority with being a prefect? Nothing, nothing before Hannah had arrived at Hogwarts, had made her want to actually scream at someone. Tell them that they're a bloody idiot. She never wanted to go to any school, and this was the exact reason why. Nobody seemed to understand the concept of respect. Everyone seemed to be under the impression, that communication is the only way to pursue something, and everyone with authority seemed to abuse it.  
"Lack of respect?" Hannah returned. She was going to rage at the girl if she needed. She didn't care about being quiet anymore. Nothing could go wrong with saying the wrong thing. The worst cases were, either being expelled, or killed. And neither seemed unappealing to her.  
"Yes, lack of respect. I expect an apology, or you should expect a consequence. Am I clear?"  
"Not necessarily. Care to elaborate on your definition of respect, or perhaps your idea of a consequence?" Hannah retorted.  
"How dare you smart-mouth your superiors? How dare you, such a worthless, short, sick-looking little white girl, challenge what I say to you?" The girl scowled, with her eyebrows drawn so low in anger, they almost covered her eyes.  
"Quite easily." Hannah smart-mouthed. With that she left the room, holding her kitten. She wouldn't dare leave her kitten in presence of such an ill-tempered cow.

As Hannah walked through the common room, the girls' dormitory door burst open.  
"Don't walk out on me, you little bitch! You will pay for talking to me like that!" The girl screamed after her.  
"Okay." Hannah answered simply, before leaving the common room, into the hall.

Adrian Pucey was sitting in the corner of the common room, reading a book on restorative potions, when he saw Hannah walking out of the girls' dormitory, with her kitten in her hands. He thought he was the only student that got up at this time. He looked over at her curiously, and then saw another girl burst out of the dorm, and begin screaming at her. He had never liked that girl, and felt sorry for Hannah as he watched her getting scolded. After Hannah had left the common room, and the girl returned back to her dorm, Adrian decided to follow after Hannah.

Hannah started walking down the hallway, when she heard the door open again. If that is that mental cow again, she thought, I swear to god, I'll slice her throat. She began walking faster as she realized the footsteps were speeding up. She turned around to see Adrian running towards her, looking concerned.  
"Hannah?" Adrian asked.  
"Yes?" Hannah answered. She had never heard Adrian talk before. He had a surprisingly smooth and soft voice.  
"I see you've met Pansy Parkinson. What did you do to set her off?" Adrian inquired. He looked into Hannah's face, he had never really bothered with analysing the appearance of other students, but he couldn't help but notice how ill Hannah looked.  
"Nothing. Literally." Hannah said, half amused. She couldn't deny that, even though Hannah hated talking, there was something about the way Adrian talked that made her want to keep talking to him.  
"You ignored her, I'm assuming?" Adrian mused. Pansy had always been one for being in the centre of attention. He hadn't the slightest clue how someone, so vain and obsessed with the thought of attention and authority, managed to get a prefect role.  
"Precisely." Hannah stated. She noticed how Adrian only said things if he felt like they needed to be said. He wasn't trying to be curious, more or less trying to make sure Hannah was okay. Hannah had never liked people worrying about her, or talking to her, or giving her any attention for the matter. But there was something about Adrian that made it seem okay if he did. Maybe it was because he seemed similar to her, he didn't want any of that either. The fact that he showed concern seemed almost sweet. How he stepped out of a comfort zone just to make sure she was okay.

They didn't speak for a while, just walked beside each other, heading to the Great Hall for breakfast. She noticed how Adrian never actually ate anything himself, but alike to her, just took something, tucked it in his robes, and headed back down to the common room.  
"For a pet?" Hannah inquired.  
"Yes, similar to yours actually, just older." He replied, nodding to the kitten in Hannah's arms. He didn't show any emotional in his face, when he spoke, alike to Hannah.

They separated ways as Hannah went to the library, and Adrian headed toward the common room. She had an hour before classes started, and she wanted to do a bit more research on some things before class.

That day, Hannah sat with Adrian for most of the lessons. For transfiguration, they learnt the Piscifors charm, which turned the target into a fish. Hannah participated in this lesson somewhat, just to make Mcgonagall happy. For Herbology they had a theory lesson, where they discussed and answered a whole load of questions about a list of herbs and how to obtain them. For Divination, Hannah just sat at the back of the class reading her book she took from the library, and for Defence Against the Dark Arts, Hannah sat there, aggravated, as Umbridge preached about how muggleborns shouldn't be worthy to study magic. For potions they brewed a Blood Replenishing potion, and for once, Snape didn't have a reason to hold Hannah behind after class.

After her classes, Hannah, once again, made her way to the library. She brought with her, her notes from Herbology, and the book she took from the library the day before. She made notes as she read more about specific herbs she thought would come in useful, and potions she thought fascinating. She then went to find some books on useful offensive and defensive spells. That was probably the only thing Hannah was unable to do. She never needed any offensive or defensive spells, well lately anyway. She only really needed transfiguration and cleaning charms. She took note of certain spells she thought would come in handy if she were ever involved in any conflict, noting down how some required certain wand movement.

She departed the library at 9pm, with 2 pieces of parchment and her books. One piece of parchment had a list of herbs:

_Baneberry  
Bloodroot  
Tentacula  
Moonseed_

The other piece of parchment, had a list of spells, and their wand movements.

Hannah made her way down the hallway, not necessarily caring about the fact that she is up walking about past curfew. She walked down the last set of stairs to the dungeon, when she saw a figure of black robes standing in front of her. Snape.

"Is there a sufficient reason that you're walking about the hallway at this time of night?" Snape drawled. He was somewhat satisfied that he had a reason to give Hannah detention. It wasn't necessarily that she deserved it, but it was more that he wanted to know more about her. Well, not more about her, but her skills. It intrigued him. He had always wanted to be the best in something, and the fact that a 17 year old girl was better than him somewhat annoyed him. He needed to know every little bit of detail, so he, himself, could improve.  
"Probably not." Hannah remarked. She didn't really have a good reason to be out, she was merely studying for her own accord. What she was interested in studying didn't really have anything to do with what she was meant to be learning at school. Although she didn't care if Snape tried to punish her for being out late. She always felt she deserved punishment. She always felt too 'worthless' to have anything else but bad things happen to her.  
"Well then, detention after dinner, tomorrow night. Meet me in the potions room. I suggest you head straight to your dormitory, before you earn yourself a week of detention." With that, Snape whirled his cloaks around as he turned, and headed back up the corridor. Although Hannah found entertainment in purposely defying Snape, purely because of his arrogance, she decided she would follow his orders and return to her dormitory.

**Thanks for reading as always :), the next chapter will be interesting, so please keep an eye out for it! Please please please review, point out any mistakes I've made, let me know how my writing technique is, and feel free to express your love or hate towards any of the characters. If you want to have a character some time in the story, comment your characters name (can be your own), and the house and year you want to be in. I'll find a way to put you in the story. :) Thanks again, new chapter probably up tomorrow! **


	9. Chapter 9

***PROFANITY WARNING***

**This chapter has a lot of different viewpoints of things happening at the same time, so here's a bit of a warning for those who may get confused by it. A lot of sensitive topics are touched in this chapter, and will be brought up more in following chapters, so please do not read on if you are under the age of 13 (16 preferably), or if your mentality is easily altered.**

**Key reference: T = Transition from viewpoints**

The next day Hannah had double potions, where they learnt to brew Murtlap Essence, a cut soothing solution. During the lesson, Snape was in a horrid mood, and scolded Hannah and the Gryffindors at any opportunity he could get. Snape even went as far as scolding Hannah for putting the Murtlap tentacles in the cauldron with her left hand, claiming that she needed full control over her hand and should use her right hand. Little did he know, Hannah was actually dominantly left handed, so consequently his argument was entirely invalid, although Hannah didn't bother to enlighten him with the fact.

For Defence Against the Dark Arts that day, Hannah didn't bother doing or reading anything because she had already read most of the book, 'Defence Against the Dark Arts for Beginners', the previous night. She sat with her cheek resting upon her hand, which was held upright by her elbow on the desk. Adrian sat next to her, reading a book which he placed inside of his DADA book. Hannah sat with her eyes upon the book Adrian was reading, which turned out to be a shortened, paperback book of Hogwarts, A History. She took in notes about the Forbidden Forest which was located on the school grounds. "Ahem," an unbearably high-pitched cough emerged from the front of the room. "It appears to me, Miss Byron, that you'd rather fall asleep in my class, than do your assigned work." Umbridge said in an annoying manner.  
"Work?" Hannah repeated. If she considered reading work, then based off of that logic, Hannah considered Umbridge a good teacher.  
"I have asked you to read chapter 8, Miss Byron." She replied, in an equally unbearable tone.  
"And you also said, that you had assigned _work_. Am I being completely ridiculous in assuming that you haven't the slightest clue how to actually teach, or is that assumption too far out of your assigned curriculum to logically evaluate?" Hannah argued, in a bored tone, without making any eye contact with the teacher whatsoever. She hoped that this would break Umbridge into threatening to have Hannah expelled. Fred and George looked up towards Hannah, with massive grins spread across their faces. Hannah was actually arguing with a teacher, and out of all teachers, Professor Umbridge.  
"Detention! Miss Byron, you have no right in determining whether my teaching methods are sufficient or not. They are assigned by the ministry, therefore are sufficient in the eyes of those more worthy than yours." Umbridge snapped, with her head held high.  
"I guess the answer is no, then." Hannah remarked. Such a closed-minded bitch, she thought. Can't think for herself outside of the minds of the ministry.  
"50 points from Slytherin! Miss Byron, I will not take any more from worthless, unmannered, ill-tempered, unwanted children like yourself. You'll have detention every day for a week starting Monday, and you'll leave this classroom, right now. Get out!" With that, Hannah got out of her seat and walked to the door, before looking Fred and George in the eyes, giving them a nod, then making her way to the girls' dormitory to feed Spero.

"Unwanted." Hannah thought in her head. That was about right. She mulled over what Umbridge said to her. Although Hannah knew Umbridge was probably one of the most uneducated people she had come across, she couldn't deny that half of the things she called her was true.

For transfiguration that day, Hannah sat in the back of the class doing nothing, like her first lessons. Mcgonagall watched her, and a worried feeling spread across her. Hannah was just starting to get involved, she thought, and now she's back in the corner, with no emotion spread across her face. Well, she had never shown much emotion, but at least she'd look somewhat connected to things around her, perhaps watching people work, or watching Adrian as he studied. But today there was none of that, she looked completely disconnected from the world around her, perhaps lost in her thoughts.

Hannah turned up for detention that night with Professor Snape. He looked as pissed off as ever as he watched Hannah enter his room. "Cauldrons." He muttered, before leaving the room. Hannah performed her spell like last time to clean the cauldrons straight away, then headed over to his bookshelf. She looked over the books, taking notes of the names of the books she thought interesting. Her eyes stopped on one book in particular, 'Advanced Potion Making.' She took the book out of the shelf and read over it. Soon enough, she noticed that there was writing throughout the book, spells, potions, and general notes had been written along the top and side of pages. "Whomping Willow, press knot" was written on the last blank page.

An hour later, Hannah left the potions room with the potions book, and headed down to the dormitory. She entered the dorm to see Pansy Parkinson next to her bed, "You lost us 50 house points." She said, angrily.  
"I established that." Hannah retorted, sarcastically.  
"Don't talk to me like that, you useless piece of shit!" Pansy thundered, holding up her wand towards Hannah, threateningly.  
"Blast me, I don't care."  
"I could kill you, and you would deserve it. Nobody likes you, you're unwanted, worthless, and nobody would care if you were dead. All you are is a waste of space and points in this house!" Pansy yelled, her face turning red with anger.  
"Do it then. Kill me. Do everyone a favour." Hannah replied, emotionlessly. She couldn't care if she died, and she knew Pansy wouldn't dare even hurt someone, especially being a prefect. Pansy lowered her wand, then headed over to the head of Hannah's bed, picking up Spero and holding him about the throat. "Put. My. Fucking. Cat. Down." Hannah snarled. Slowly approaching Pansy.  
"I told you, you will pay for treating me the way you did." She scowled back, tightening her grip around the kitten's throat. Hannah slid her wand down her sleeve,  
"Petrificus Totalus!" She yelled, stunning Pansy into a lifeless-looking corpse, laying on the ground. Spero jumped out of Pansy's now-unclenched hands, and ran over to Hannah. Hannah, filled with anger, walked up to Pansy's petrified body, kicking her feet into her face as hard as she could. Stupid bitch, how dare she touch my kitten? She thought. Hannah picked up Spero and left the dormitory into the hallway.

T

Adrian watched Hannah as she left the dormitory and then the common room. It was well past curfew, and there is no way she should be going out at this time. He got out of his seat from reading and decided to follow after her.

T

Hannah quickly walked down the hallways, with her head reeling with thoughts. So, I'm worthless, useless, unwanted, and I don't want to be here. So what would happen if I left? Who would care? Nobody. Nobody ever did care. Not even her own family. She climbed up a flight of stairs then across several more hallways, until she approached the front doors of the castle. She wrenched the doors open, which were still yet to be locked for the night, and made her way through the courtyards. She placed Spero on the ground next to a path which lead towards her destination. "Stay here." She muttered to her kitten, which circled a couple times before cuddling up into a ball and falling asleep.

T

Adrian followed Hannah, but couldn't keep up with her, seeing as she was somewhat running, and Adrian was trying to be quiet. He stopped at the top of the stairs when he realized she wasn't in sight anymore, and then he heard a loud screech of the castle doors opened, and a slam from them closing.

T

Hannah followed the path and approached the border of her destination. She pulled a pile of crumpled notes out of her pocket, which she wrote the day before. She lit her wand and read the parchment she wrote in Herbology, before putting it back into her pocket, and heading into the Forbidden Forest.

T

Adrian strode back up the hallway. Why did she leave the castle? What happened? Did Pansy have anything to do with it? He wished he could go after Hannah, but feared for being expelled for leaving the castle at night. His parents would kill him. Literally, probably. He walked up to the door of the potions classroom, before knocking on it.

T

Hannah walked about the Forbidden Forest, fearless. It'd make it a lot easier for her if a werewolf just came along right then and killed her. She made her way through the forest, stopping at small water patches, clearings, and beneath certain trees to retrieve what she wanted. She then headed back out the way she came.

T

Snape heard a knock on his door. Who would dare interrupt him at such an hour? He was already in a foul mood from his encounter with Umbridge first thing in the morning, and his countless idiot students he had to put up with throughout the day. "Come in." He drawled, reluctantly. Adrian opened the door, not wasting time with polite entrances. "Mr Pucey?" Snape questioned, startled by the entrance of the introverted student. What brings someone like Pucey to my rooms at this hour? I've never heard him talk in any of my classes, and now he's approaching me at 10pm?  
"Professor," Adrian started, sounding somewhat discomposed. "Hannah Byron just left the castle." Snape sat there, confused with the upbringing of news. How did Mr Pucey know, why did he care, and why did Miss Byron leave the castle?  
"Go back to your dormitory." Snape ordered, before getting out of his seat and heading for the castle entrance.

T

Hannah reached the border of the Forbidden Forest, and followed another path which lead towards her next destination. She approached the Whomping Willow, which was thrashing its branches about, trying to hit bats as they flapped past. She had never seen a moving tree before, well, a tree that moved not according to the wind. She opened up the potions book she had stored in her robes to the last page. "Whomping Willow, press knot." Hannah looked about for a knot. With her terrible eyesight, Hannah couldn't see anything clearly further than 3 metres ahead of her, and that was without it being pitch black. She lit her wand, and threw the ball of light closer to the tree, revealing an opening to the tree trunk. She noticed the small knot adjacent to it, and looked about for an object to press it with. She pointed her wand at a stick laying near, "Mobiliarbus" she muttered. She levitated the stick onto the knot, as the tree froze.

T

Snape approached the castle door, and wrenched it open. He didn't bother shutting it behind him, knowing that filch would lock the doors soon enough, surely Filch wasn't so dumb to lock a door which had been left open, proving that a student or teacher is temporarily out of the castle. Snape's head reeled with thoughts. Why would Hannah leave the castle? What could possibly get into her mind, for her to think that leaving a safe castle at 10 o'clock at night would result well? Or perhaps she didn't want a good result, perhaps she didn't want to be safely inside the castle. "Homenum Revelio" Snape muttered. Nobody was around. Not for a good 100 metres in either direction.

T

Hannah followed the path of the Whomping Willow, and arrived in a rugged looking shack. She placed the herbs she got from the Forbidden Forest onto the wooden floor, and conjured a cauldron with her hands. She had done this several times before, as she would often brew potions in her past years, a lot of the time for health or hunger. She placed the ingredients in the cauldron, in no particular order: Tentacula leaves, Moonseed, Baneberries, Bloodroot stems. She let the cauldron boil then simmer for a couple of minutes. She opened the potions book, and read over the owner's notes.

T

Snape followed a path which lead to the border of the castle, and separated into 3 separate paths. Before he could decide which path to choose, he heard a noise emit from the right of him. He turned around to see a black kitten emerging from the darkness. The kitten approached him, meowing constantly. The kitten nudged Snape's leg, then ran along the middle path. Snape shrugged his shoulders and followed the cat. It's not as if he cared much for the cat, it wasn't as if he particularly thought the cat would lead him to Hannah, but he did need to decide which path to go down, although he wasn't particularly fond of what that path lead to.

T

Hannah's eyes locked to one particular note written in the book. "Sectumsempra – For use on enemies." For enemies, she muttered. She checked up on her potion. It had changed from green to blood red in the past couple minutes. She conjured a cup, before filling it with the potion. She pointed her wand to the thigh of her leg. "Sectumsempra" she uttered. Her robes tore open as blood gushed out of her leg. She winced and gasped in agony, before grabbing the potion and drinking it. Her eyes rolled to the back of her head, as her throat swelled up so she was unable to breathe.

T

Snape strode up to the Whomping Willow, and noticed the stick that was already placed on the knot. His stomach churned, as he realised there was no good reason to enter the Shrieking Shack. He entered the Whomping Willow, following the cat. He walked along the passageway, not entirely sure how he was going to approach Hannah. Was he going to be concerned for her, and tell her to come with him back to the castle nicely, or was he going to scold her for breaking the rules, and give her detention, perhaps even have her expelled? Maybe if he were nice to her, she would tell him how she was such a skilled Legilimens. He rolled his eyes when he realized how selfish he was being, then continued to follow the path. Before he approached the Shrieking Shack, he heard a loud gasp, perhaps a gasp of realisation? Or maybe a gasp of pain? He quickened his steps so he could approach her sooner.

Snape opened the door to the shrieking shack, as his heart felt as if it were about to give way as he witnessed what laid in front of him. His eyes locked in dread on the girl which laid before him, in a pool of blood, lifeless.

**I'm not entirely sure what to say after writing this chapter. There will be more to come, oh, a lot more to come. The next chapter will be up maybe tomorrow. Keep reading, please, the view numbers mean heaps to me :) Please review, point out any grammatical mistakes, and let me know if you want to have your own character in this fanfic. Leave a review or private message with your name, house, and year. You may use your real name if you wish. Thank you for reading! **


	10. Chapter 10

**I'm starting to upload chapters slower now, I've had so many hours of work, and I haven't seen much point to uploading daily with very little readers at this stage. Please, if you read this, please review and let me know how to improve, please follow the story if you like it, give me a bit of motivation :) **

**Anyway, this chapter. It's different. Hope you like it.**

**Key reference: T = Transition from viewpoints **

Snape's heart began pounding as he saw the blood flow from Hannah's leg. How? Why? Questions reeled through his head as he took in the environment around him. He saw his potions book sitting adjacent to Hannah, open to a page where he had written notes for curses and hexes. "Sectumsempra" he muttered to himself. He hovered his wand over her gashed leg, and began chanting his own counter-curse, "Vulnera Sanentur." Blood slowly cleared from around her body, as the blood flow stopped, and the wound started to stitch up. He watched Hannah's face, which was now entirely pale. Was she dead? How can she be dead if she had only been bleeding for less than a minute? How could she be dead if he stopped the bleeding? He looked around him to see a cauldron filled with blood-red liquid. "Poison." He muttered to himself. He examined around the cauldron to see the remnants of Tentacula leaves, Baneberries, Moonseed, and Bloodroot stems. The worst dawned on him. If she were alive, she didn't have much longer. Snape quickly bent down and slid his hands under Hannah's back and knees, and carried her out of the Shrieking Shack, making his way to the castle as fast as possible.

Snape arrived at the hospital wing, with Hannah hanging limply in his arms. He placed her uneasily onto a bed and darted into the medicine room. "Antidote, Blood replenishing, Murtlap Essence, Essence of Dittany," he muttered as he picked out the potions from the shelves. He arrived back into the hospital, placing the potions on a bed side table. Please don't be dead, he thought. He wondered if his harshness is what caused Hannah to do such an act. No, it couldn't be. Guilt washed over him as he pondered the possible triggers. He lowered Hannah's jaw and poured the antidote into her mouth. He watched intently, hoping for a sign of life.

T

Adrian sat on the chair in the corner of the common room, trying to read a book, but not processing any of the words. His thoughts reeled. Has Hannah been found? Why did she leave the castle? Was she alright? Should I check with Snape? He hated talking to Snape, he hated talking to anyone, but for some reason he couldn't let the thought of Hannah slip away. Why did he even care? They had barely even talked before. He closed his book and sat up in his chair. Should I go and check with Snape? What happens if I'm found by the wrong person? What happens if Snape gets upset with me being out of bed at this time? What would my parents say if they heard bad news about me? Did it matter if my parents knew? Did I even have to go back to my parents after this year? Adrian had never got along with his parents, they never reacted well to bad news about him. The only reason he had ever lived there was because he had nowhere else to go. He put his book onto the chair and made his way out of the common room.

T

Snape watched Hannah, as she continued to lay on the hospital bed, lifeless. No. She can't be dead, he thought. He picked up a blood replenishing potion, and tipped it into her mouth like he did the previous. He watched her face in hope for a sign of life. Nothing. He reached over to where Hannah had cursed her leg, and split the robes and the section of her pants so he could get a clear view of the wound. To his surprise, he noticed at least 20 scars adjacent to the wound. Had she done this herself? Had she always harmed herself purposefully? He shook the thoughts away as he grabbed the Essence of Dittany and unstoppered it, pouring a drop onto the cut.

T

Her vision faded to complete darkness, as her head gave in to the struggle for oxygen. The searing pain in her heart stopped, and the excruciating sting in her thigh ceased. As the life drained out of her, everything started to warp. Her vision swirled in awry circles, as familiar shapes faded into view. She watched from above, as a cloaked man hovered over her, chanting healing spells hopelessly. She watched as a heartless, cold, introverted man, picked her up, and clung onto her, as he ran her through dirty passageways and across several fields. She watched as a man, who showed her nothing but hatred, panicked over the life of a silly little girl. She watched as sweat ran down his his face, while hopelessly pouring potions into her mouth. She watched as a man, who she thought hated her, cared.

No matter what, no matter how it seems at the time, no matter how people act around you, deep down, they care. Only those who don't deserve life wish death upon another. You're wanted. You're always wanted. You just have to open up to find out the ones who love you. It wouldn't do good to leave those behind, as they tear apart over their loss. It'd only do worse. Focus on those who love, rather than those who hate, because with hatred only comes anger and sadness. With love comes happiness.

T

Adrian knocked on Snape's door, to result in no response. He pondered his options for a minute. Hannah wasn't in the common room, she hadn't walked past to her dorm, and Snape wasn't back. They either were still out, or both back. If they were both back, they weren't where they were meant to be. What if Hannah had been hurt? Adrian concluded his decision, and headed up the stairs.

T

Snape sat, staring at the lifeless body in front of him. There must be something he could do. He felt her skin, she wasn't yet completely cold. He felt for a pulse, nothing. She was dead. But why couldn't he leave? Why couldn't he come to terms with the fact that she can't be alive? It wasn't as if he really cared much when she was alive. Yes, he was curious, but he didn't think he cared. Or did he? Did he care? Was the fact that the girl was so similar to him, the fact the girl was introverted and mysteriously talented, make him have a soft spot for her? He stared hopefully into her face, before a knock on the door pulled him away from his thoughts.

T

Adrian opened the door to find Hannah laying, lifeless on the hospital bed, with Snape beside her, looking torn and shattered. A hot feeling rushed through him, a feeling of pain, a feeling of hurt. No. She can't be. He had never seen Snape look so emotional in his life. He wasn't crying, but there was something. He had sweat rolling down his face, his face was pale, and his eyes showed agony. Adrian walked over to the side of Hannah's bed, without saying a word to Snape. He bent down, sitting on his knees, and put a hand on Hannah's arm. He looked into her face. She was pale, and she looked pained. Even though her eyes were closed, her face showed emotion, not happiness, not sadness, just pain. Her face showed a torn past, regret, and sorrow.

Adrian was about to remove his hand from her arm, when he felt warmth go through his hand. "Professor," he gasped. Snape sat upright, then looked into Hannah's face, which showed a little bit of colour. Snape scrambled to his feet, as he placed his fingers on Hannah's neck to feel a pulse. There was a faint pulse. She was alive.

**Thanks for reading, please review, please please pleeeassee review. :) Thank you. **


	11. Chapter 11

**It'd mean the world to me if you were to review. I haven't a clue how captivating my writing is, or if people have any interest in being up to date with my uploads. Please, review and let me know how my writing is, I feel like I'm screaming to a herd of unresponsive cattle. **

Snape collapsed with relief at the beating pulse. She was alive. But barely. Adrian watched Snape as the emotion on his face changed. Relief, happiness? "Sir," Adrian started, he was curious with what happened to Hannah, he hadn't even taken in what was in front of him, apart from her face, and how pale she looked. He hadn't even noticed her scarred leg, or the vials of potion on the bedside table.  
"Mr Pucey." Snape replied. He wanted to thank Pucey for his input, letting him know that Hannah had left. For some reason, Snape felt that losing Hannah would have torn him apart, but he had no idea why.  
"What…?" Adrian started again. Snape looked at him, not with his cold stare, but with a look of empathy. He knew the curiosity he had, but Snape felt too uncomfortable to explain. Snape reached for an empty vial, and pointed his wand at his own temple, before extracting a memory and pouring it into the vial.  
"Take it to Dumbledore, the password is Peppermint. You can look too, if you wish." Snape said, as he handed the vial over to Adrian. Adrian took the vial, and nodded to the professor, before leaving and heading off to Dumbledore's office.

Snape looked down into Hannah's face. He had so many questions, but no way of getting answers. He could so easily penetrate her mind, if he wished, but something was stopping him. He felt respect for the girl, and he had no idea why. Snape poured some drops of Murtlap Essence onto Hannah's wound, just to ease the pain. He wondered if Hannah ever tried easing the pain for any of the other cuts, or did she perhaps feel like she deserved pain? Just like Snape felt a lot of the time. He always felt like he deserved pain, death, torture. He felt like he should have the world burn him down, every time he ever hurt another person, every time he had poisoned someone, every time he had tortured someone, every time he hurt Lily. He wished he were the one on the receiving end. After everything he had done, he hated himself afterwards. Perhaps that was why Hannah tried killing herself? Perhaps she regretted something, done something that made her feel she deserved death?

Adrian knocked on Dumbledore's door, after walking up the staircase. The door flung open in front of him. Dumbledore sat at his desk, with his hands crossed in front of him. "What is it, Mr Pucey?" Dumbledore asked politely.  
"Snape's memories. There's been a… mishap, with Hannah. He said I could view them as well." Adrian answered. He was a little shaken from what he had just witnessed, he had been so worried, and it all turned out to be for the right reasons.  
"I see, Mr Pucey." Dumbledore held out a hand and drew the pensieve from out of the wall. He took the vial from Adrian, and tipped the memories into the liquid. "Very well, Mr Pucey, together now." Dumbledore gestured to the pensieve, as they simultaneously ducked their heads into the liquid, and fell into the memories.

Dumbledore watched as the scenes flowed in front of him. How could he let something like this happen? How had Dumbledore been so ignorant, to take a girl out of what she was used to, and place her into a school with a thousand children and a dozen teachers, without considering the effects it might have on her? How could he be so caught up in everything else around him, to ignore the fact that he just forced a girl into a completely difference life, and not acknowledge how the change might get to her? His thoughts continued to attack him, as he retraced everything he had done wrong. Just if he had stepped in, all those years ago, when he first witnessed what was happening to Hannah. If he had stepped in then, Hannah would be in a much better place now. She would have been in a much better place for the past 10 years.

Adrian landed back into reality. Hannah had tried killing herself? Why? Was it something Pansy said to her? Or was it a lot bigger than that? Perhaps that was why Hannah was just as quiet as he was, because she had so much to hide. Or perhaps it was because she didn't want to say the wrong with, just like Adrian. "I think it best you head to your dormitory, Mr Pucey. You may excuse yourself from your first lesson tomorrow morning to visit Hannah, if you wish. Thank you." Dumbledore looked solemnly at Adrian, dismissing and thanking him with a grave nod. Adrian departed without a word, although his head was bursting with questions and demands.

The door of the hospital wing opened, as Dumbledore strode in purposefully. Snape heightened his gaze to look at the old man. He didn't look as cheerful as he usually did, as Snape didn't look as cold as he usually did. "Severus, I apologize that you've had to witness this, I admit it my fault for this happening." Albus spoke gravely.  
"I highly doubt that the past experiences of this girl has much relevance to you, Albus." Snape replied, with a hint of curiosity in his voice. Why did Dumbledore think that this happening had any relevance to his own actions?  
"Unfortunately, I believe a lot of it has relevance to me. Not necessarily what I've done, but what I haven't. A full explanation would be a lot more informative, but I think it unfair to inform you of her past, without Hannah's prior consent. What has happened long in the past, I believe Hannah is ignorant of, although, I should have foreseen her taking this course of action. I should have watched over her, Severus. I should have been more cautious, when I took her out of her usual lifestyle, and forced her into this. I was ignorant, not to be more cautious, and for that, I feel that this incident is my doing." Dumbledore confessed soberly. Snape thought over what Dumbledore said. So there was a past behind Hannah, there definitely was something in the past which influenced her to be introverted, perhaps that had relevance to her Legilimency skills? Snape snapped out of the thought when he realized that her Legilimency skills weren't actually his primary interest any more. He began to realize that it was her, Hannah, that he was curious about. Not her skills, just her.  
"Perhaps we should focus on what happens now, rather than our mistakes in the past." Snape stated.  
"Perhaps. We can all relate to regret, but sometimes we have to move on without forgiveness. Good night, Severus." Dumbledore nodded to Severus, and looked regretfully at the unconscious girl, before leaving the room.

Snape stared at the closed door for a moment, before turning his attention back to Hannah. How he wished he received forgiveness from Lily. He pulled a blanket over Hannah and dimmed the lights, before falling asleep in the chair adjacent to the bed for the rest of the night.

**Thanks for reading, I promise things will go faster. Basically all 11 chapters so far have happened in the course of like 3 days, but things will get faster as we progress. I just needed to emphasize... a lot... on Hannah's beginning experiences at Hogwarts. Thanks again :) I'll post again within the next few days. **


	12. Chapter 12

**Nothing to say here, except for, pllllleeeeeeeaaaaassseeeee review. Thankyou :) **

Snape awoke to a knock on the door, followed by the entrance of Dumbledore. "Madam Pomfrey will be here to look at Hannah in a few minutes. It isn't your responsibility to look over Miss Byron. You may leave whenever you wish." Dumbledore looked at Snape curiously. He had never expected Snape to stay next to Hannah all night, he never thought he had it in him to ever be that caring again.  
"It doesn't matter, I don't mind staying." Snape replied. He looked over at Hannah, to see her still unconscious.  
"You have classes to teach, Severus, although you certainly can't teach looking like that, mind you." Dumbledore looked over at Snape, who was more pale than usual, with eyes reddened from lack of sleep and stress. "If you wish to have the day off, I'd be willing to take over the class for you, on the condition that you get some rest." Dumbledore added.  
"I'm quite capable of teaching no matter how I appear, Albus." Retorted Snape, as he attempted to stand up. Dumbledore watched as Snape attempted to get to his feet, and instead stumbled and swayed before falling back onto his chair.  
"I think, Severus, it is safe to say you are not up to teaching today. Stay here and I'll get Madam Pomfrey to look at you."  
"I don't need looking at. I just lost balance." Snape argued. His head was pounding and he was feeling weak, but he didn't want to look defeated. He didn't want to teach, but he certainly didn't want to look weak.  
"Your occlumency skills are currently lacking, Severus. Being ill doesn't make you weak, it just makes you human. I'll cover your classes for today. Get some rest." With that Dumbledore left the room.

Madam Pomfrey entered the room moments after Dumbledore left. "Oh my, I certainly didn't expect an incident like this to happen this early into the school year. What happened exactly?" Pomfrey looked from Snape to Hannah.  
"Poisoned and wounded. I've taken care of the wound already, although I can't be sure if the antidote was sufficient." Snape replied. He didn't want to reveal the whole story to her. In fact he wasn't necessarily comfortable with her being there at all. He didn't know how to explain that a girl just tried killing herself, by the means of ingredients studied in Herbology classes, and a spell that he himself had created.  
"Very well," Madam Pomfrey approached Hannah, opened her eyelids, inspected her eyes, and then felt the glands around her throat. "It appears that the poison might have stimulated her senses a bit, she's very feverish, and it's hard to tell when she'll wake. I think it's safe to say the antidote was sufficient to counteract the poison, although it might take some time before her organs fully recover." Madam Pomfrey continued to inspect Hannah for further injuries, tutting as she saw the scars over her legs. She then turned to Snape, "and I hear that you're not exactly up to scratch either, I think that can be cured with a little bit of proper rest. Now, I'll be back in an hour or two, I suggest you stay here just in case your symptoms worsen." Madam Pomfrey nodded to Snape before leaving the room. Snape stumbled to a hospital bed and closed his eyes.

Adrian opened the door to the hospital wing, to see Snape laying in a bed with no covers on, and Hannah laying in another, just as pale as the night before, with a cover draped over her body. He walked quietly up to her, hoping not to awaken Snape, to get a closer look at Hannah. She was covered in sweat, and had her eyes tightly shut, as if she were forcing them closed. She looked uncomfortable, pained. She looked even more ill than she usually did, and it worried Adrian so much. He didn't even know Hannah that well, yet he felt like he had known her forever. He sat next to the bed, where Snape had previously sat, and looked down at Hannah, as he thought about everything that could have happened if Snape hadn't intervened.

"DON'T!" Hannah screamed. Adrian's attention shifted quickly back to Hannah, was she awake? What was happening? Snape jumped out of his sleep, and became startled at the sight of Hannah moving uncontrollably in her bed, with Adrian looking panicked beside it.  
"What's happening?" Snape looked suspiciously and threateningly at Adrian.  
"I don't know, I barely got here. She just screamed and started shaking." Adrian looked flustered at the sight, and started backing away from Hannah. He felt guilty, even though he knew he didn't do anything wrong, all he did was sit there and think.  
"LEAVE HIM ALONE!" Hannah screamed again, her voice cracking with fear. Snape scrambled to the bedside, his head thumping with pain. He looked down at Hannah, her eyes were pinned tightly shut, her face scrunched. She looked as if she was witnessing someone being burnt alive. Hannah continued to shake uncontrollably, her arms moving about, trying to get the covers off of her, trying to move somewhere, but being unable and helpless.  
"Hold her still!" Snape cracked fully out of his emotional mask. He pointed his wand towards the medicine room, as a vial came flying into his hand.  
"STOP IT!" Hannah screamed louder, desperately, agony in her voice. Snape held her head tightly against the pillow, and tried forcing her jaw open, only for it to clench shut again, in her desperate attempt to stop something happening.  
"DAMMIT!" Snape lost his last bit of control, his head was thumping, he hated the noise, he hated the racket, and he hated seeing Hannah in pain. He pointed his wand directly at Hannah. "Petrificus Totalus!" he voiced in his loss for breath. Hannah stopped moving completely. Adrian looked at Snape questioningly. Did he just attack Hannah? Did he just stun her?  
"Mr Pucey." Snape started, with an unnaturally calm voice. He held his arm out, with the vial in his shaking hand. "Ple – please unstopper this." Adrian looked worriedly up at Snape. He had never seen Snape look so flustered, and never seen him look so ill. Adrian did as he was told, and unstoppered the vial. He felt as if he would have to stop Snape from collapsing at any second. Snape took the vial back, he was feeling weak in the knees, his head was thumping violently, he was sweating all over, his insides were freezing, but his skin was burning. He opened up Hannah's jaw, and slipped the liquid into her mouth. He placed the rest of the Dreamless Sleep potion onto the bedside table, then collapsed into the seat which he sat previously. He slowly raised his wand at Hannah, and muttered "Finite Incantatem."

Adrian watched as Snape muttered the counter-curse, then laid back in the chair with relief. Hannah slowly regained a bit of colour, and she was now breathing normally, back into a peaceful sleep. Adrian looked at Snape, who was now paler than Hannah was. He knew better than to ask if Snape was alright, he knew the man didn't want to be seen as weak, and needing help.  
"You need an anti-fever potion, sir." Adrian managed to say. He knew Snape would probably disregard his comment, but he also needed to know if Snape was ignoring his symptoms just to look tougher than he actually was.  
"No." Snape muttered back. He didn't want anyone's advice. He didn't want to feel better. He felt terrible that Hannah was having to experience all of this, he didn't think his symptoms even deserved attention compared to what she was going through.  
"It's better that you help yourself, rather than Madam Pomfrey forcing it down your throat." Adrian reasoned. He knew the woman could be forceful, and at times overly mothering. He had a few incidents himself in the past, mainly involving quidditch. Snape pondered his reasoning, then pointed his wand at the medicine room. The vial flew into his hand like the previous. He managed to unstopper it himself this time, before consuming the contents.  
"I think you should go to class." Snape managed to say. The hot and cold of his body quickly cascaded into an even warmth, as the potion started to take effect. Adrian nodded, then walked off to his next class.

Snape stayed in the same chair for the next 5 minutes, thinking and waiting for the anti-fever potion to fully kick in. He had just witnessed Hannah being emotional for the first time. For the first time he had witnessed her emotional mask being forced off, and it was all when she wasn't even awake. She had to be forced into a nightmare-ridden sleep, just for him to hear emotion in her voice for the first time. Was it even a nightmare? Or was she reliving her past in her sleep? Had she actually witnessed someone or something being so hurt, while she watched completely helpless? Snape had seen people tortured on countless occasions. He would watch, helplessly, as Lord Voldemort tortured people for information. If he had ever told him to stop, he would have been tortured himself.

Snape looked into Hannah's face, he couldn't understand how a 17 year old could hold so much resemblance to him. Not physically, but mentally and emotionally. He knew he was experiencing the same amount of emotional pain at her age. At her age he was watching as his only love fell for his enemy. He had to endure endless bullying and shaming. He had to shield every emotion of his, just to get by. He had a torn and shattered past, from the day he laid eyes on his abusive father. The thought that another innocent person had to endure anything just as traumatising, tore him apart. He didn't know her past, but he knew it was broken. He knew she was fighting the same fight that he was. He knew that all it would've taken, to steer him in the right direction, was someone to help steer the wheel. He knew someone had to be there for Hannah. He gently placed his now stable hand onto Hannah's shoulder, then whispered in a broken voice, "Hannah." He watched as Hannah's eyes opened to the sound of her first name.

**Alright, okay, so, um. Basically. I would honestly really like it if people were to review. I need a bit of motivation to write, need people interested. I have perhaps one person who wants to stick around and read, and it's, in all honesty, (Sheds off the last of my emotional mask) SO FLIPPING DEMEANING TO HAVE ONLY ONE PERSON SHOW INTEREST. I JUST WANT PEOPLE TO TELL ME WHAT I NEED TO DO TO HAVE A BETTER STORY DAMNIT. **

**Okay thankyou have a good afternoon love you xoxoxo. **

**Actually, there is something that I need to say. Hannah Byron has a Pottermore account. If you want to add her, her account is StoneDragon25288. **

**Pushing the rage aside. Thank you for reading, I feel loved to see people actually read every single chapter through. The thought is great. But please, please review. **

**And one more thing, PM me, or review, with your predictions of what has happened in Hannah's past. I want to see how well you can gather the subtle hints throughout the story ;)**

**Alright, thanks. **


	13. Chapter 13

**Much dialogue. Such wow.**

Hannah opened her eyes to see Snape sitting in front of her, with his hand on her shoulder. Why was she still alive? She just remembered dying. She remembered dying more than once. She made eye contact with the man, he didn't look as cold as he usually did. He looked worried. Hannah had seen how he saved her. Saved her, ruined her motives. She didn't know if she were angry or grateful with him. She wanted to die so badly, she so badly just wanted to be rid of all the pain she had, but at the same time she was grateful, grateful to find out that someone actually did care about her in the end. The first person she ever knew that cared about her.

Snape watched as Hannah's eyes shifted through several emotions. Confusion, anger, gratefulness, worry. He didn't know how to feel about her emotional confusion. He supposed he would feel the same way, he wouldn't know how to react when someone who he thought hated him turned out to save his life. Or perhaps she thought he ruined her life by saving her, or perhaps even she thought he ruined her life altogether just by being a terrible teacher? Thoughts reeled through his head, both logical and illogical. He watched as Hannah tried moving, but instead winced in pain. "Miss Byron," he started, moving his hand off her shoulder. "Does your leg hurt?" he asked, he felt weird now that she was awake. He didn't know how to talk to her. He wanted to be nicer to her for some reason, he wanted her to know that he somewhat did care. He wanted her to know that she wasn't the only person in the world fighting that fight. Hannah just nodded back, without saying a word. "You can talk to me, you know. I won't kill you if you want to be angry with me." Snape slightly joked. He felt guilty as soon as he saw her eyes focus onto blankness at his words. Focusing on something in the past. "Can you at least say something? I hate talking too, you know." Hannah's eyes focused back onto Snape.  
"My leg." Was all she managed to say. Snape removed the covers off the bed, and pushed aside the fabric covering the wound, to see a massive bruise cover the area around her wound. His eyes momentarily focused on the scars, as he remembered the questions he wanted to ask. Snape reached for the vial of Murtlap Essence off of the bedside table, and dabbed a bit over the barely opened wound. It was nowhere near as bad as it was, but it would have relieved some pain a bit anyway.  
"There's not much I can do about the bruise, I'm afraid." Snape eventually informed.  
"I don't mind the pain." Hannah replied. Snape's head snapped up at the comment. His initial surprise was because of the fact that she had openly spoken, then it was because she said she didn't mind pain.  
"You don't mind pain?" Snape repeated, to clarify his thoughts.  
"You missed out a rather important article. I don't mind the pain." Hannah repeated. "Pain in general isn't w…" Hannah stopped midsentence, when she realized she was talking too much. She didn't need to clarify what she was saying, it wasn't necessary. Snape watched Hannah as she rethought what she was saying.  
"Continue." He edged on.  
"It's not important." Hannah stated. It wasn't. She didn't mind the pain she was in at the moment. She didn't mind the physical pain. She hated any other type of pain. She hated emotional pain, she hated mental pain. She didn't want Snape thinking that she enjoyed pain, though. She didn't want him asking any more questions, although he probably deserved answers, after what he witnessed.

Snape had questions reeling through his head. He wanted to know so many answers, but he didn't know how to approach the questions. "Miss Byron," Snape started, "I would like to know how you received all of these scars." Snape asked, awkwardly. He had no idea how to ask, but he couldn't control his curiosity, and his worry.  
"I hardly think you need an answer for clarity, sir." Hannah replied, just as awkwardly. If he knew that she had hurt herself purposefully on this occasion, she knew he was smart enough to put the pieces together for every other occasion. Snape sighed at her answer. He knew the answer, and he supposed he did receive the clarity he wanted.  
"There are other ways, you realize." Snape tried reasoning. He knew the pain she was in, he knew the thought of wanting to inflict pain on himself, just to make himself feel like he thought he deserved.  
"10 years of trying other ways didn't result too well, did it?" Hannah retorted, half irritated. She hated the fact that he was trying to reason with her. She had tried other ways, she had tried distracting herself, in hundreds of different ways, but they never resulted well. She had tried everything, and she wanted last night to be the last thing she tried. Of course somebody had to ruin it.  
"You don't always have to handle things on your own." Snape lost the awkwardness, which instead was overridden with worry. He felt worried for the girl, who was so torn that she thought her only other option for happiness was death. Hannah looked up at Snape. She hated getting close to people, because she was so scared that she'd just ruin their lives. She was so prone to stuffing things up, she was always worried that if she did or said the wrong thing that somebody would end up being hurt.  
"It doesn't matter whether you handle a situation with someone else, you always end up on your own in the end." Hannah spoke, with a hint of pain in her voice. Snape felt taken aback with the hint of emotion in her voice. He could relate to the words, he could relate to having someone there, who in the end just turned away, to leave him alone in the dark.  
"Some people stick around, always." Snape looked her straight in the eyes. He let emotion slip through his mask. He let her see the hint of caring he had for her.

The door burst open, as Madam Pomfrey marched in, carelessly. "Ah, so you're awake then. Oh, and Severus, you're looking rather well now. Right. Is there anything you need, dear?" Madam Pomfrey looked at Hannah questioningly. Hannah shook her head in response. Madam Pomfrey looked at the two of them, to realize she might have burst in on them at an inappropriate moment. "Okay then, I'll be back later. I'll bring back food and drink for the both of you." She nodded to them both before departing the room again. Snape looked at the closed door, then looked back at Hannah, rolling his eyes.  
"Why do you care?" Hannah eventually asked, after the small pause of silence. Snape pondered her question. He wasn't entirely sure of the answer, but he knew he had to answer it, answer it well enough for her to trust him.  
"Because you remind me of myself." He started, a frown swept over his face. He looked at her, to see her eyes edging him for further explanation. "You're just as introverted as I was, as I am. I never had an enjoyable childhood. I just don't want anyone else to experience the same thing." He finished, relieved he managed to say it all, without faltering on his words. Hannah looked up at him, considering him, considering his words, considering their meaning. He wanted explanation, he wanted to know her past, and he was edging her to explain hers by implying his might be similar. He was trying to make her feel comfortable by evening out the surface. She nodded in response. She wasn't going to tell him anything. Not yet anyway. Not until she is given a good reason, although doing what he did for her was probably a good enough reason on its own.  
"I want to help you. I don't want you to have that same experience. But to help you, I need to know what has happened in the past." Snape looked into Hannah's eyes, pleadingly. Hannah considered his request. He wanted to know everything in her past which made her the way she was, and he wanted to help. Hannah didn't want help. She wanted to be dead. But if she couldn't do that without being stopped, there's no way of helping yourself until you accept help. If he was willing to go on edge for her, and if he was willing to lower his mask just to make her feel comfortable, perhaps she could do him one favour, and perhaps she would feel a lot better with everything off her chest, for the first time in her life.

"You know Legilimency, I trust?" Hannah asked. She wasn't ever going to explain what happened in her past, and nothing in words would be able to explain the trauma of her past.  
"Yes." Snape replied. Was she actually going to allow him to see? After all of that questioning about whether or not breaking into her mind was a massive privacy invasion?  
"You're not to repeat anything to anyone." Hannah clarified.  
"Are you sure you're willing to let me do this?" Snape questioned, he had only ever broken into someone's mind when he was torturing them for information, and he never thought he would ever do it on that person's command.  
"As long as you're willing to see." Hannah replied, with a hint of worry in her voice. She thought him seeing her absolutely drenched in blood was enough pain for him to witness over 24 hours.  
"Yes." Snape sighed. "Ready?" Hannah nodded her head in response. Snape pointed his wand at the girl, before muttering, "Legilimens."

**Such cliffhanger Much irritating. Very suspense. Wow. **

**Please review. I'm posting this when I'm so tired and I just don't even know what to say. **

**'I bet you can't name two structures that hold water."  
"Well, dam." **


	14. Chapter 14

***PROFANITY WARNING***

**So here is Hannah's memories. I would have uploaded this sooner but fanfiction Doc Manager is such a beautiful, efficient, piece of work. **

**Key reference. T = Transition into and out of memories. M = transition from Memory to memory**

T

A woman in her early twenties was leaning over a steaming cauldron, placing herbs in and stirring every now and then. "Mum?" A little girl, the age of 4 questioned. "What are you doing?"  
The woman rolled her eyes at the girl's curiosity. "Making a potion." The woman reluctantly answered back.  
"What's a potion?" The girl continued to innocently ask questions. The woman's scowl grew deeper.  
"A liquid with a magical effect, Hannah." The woman half-heartedly answered.  
"What type of effect?" Hannah walked closer toward the cauldron, curiously. The woman turned to look at the girl.  
"I can make one to choke you to death if you don't stop asking bloody questions!" The woman swung her arm and slapped the girl directly over the face. "Go inside and stop being an annoying, silly little girl!" The woman pushed the girl onto the floor to clear her away, then turned back to her blood-red potion.

M

The 6 year old girl watched as the rat fell over, stiffly on its side. "Mum, why do you keep hurting animals?" Hannah asked, with a touch of fear in her voice.  
"None of your fucking business." The woman pointed her wand at the rat again, levitating it, to place it on a pile of more dead rats.  
"Mum, they have feelings too. You can't just end something's life just because they're not human. You wouldn't like it if someone bigger than you came up to you and tortured you." The girl argued, a tear trickling down her face.  
"Don't cry, you silly girl. Nobody cares about your opinion." The woman picked another rat up, out of the box of squirming rodents. "Brian, babe, can you pass the Baneberry Potion?" The woman's voice changed into falsetto, as she talked to her husband. The man walked over to the woman, with a vial containing blood-red liquid. The woman took the vial, and slowly unloaded it into the rat's mouth, as Brian wrenched its mouth open. The rat gasped in pain, unable to breathe, before eventually falling over, dead. Hannah watched, her eyes filled with tears.  
"What's she doing here, Suzanna?" The man looked at his wife, before reverting his eyes to the girl.  
"I ask myself the same question every day." The woman scowled at Hannah. "Clear off, girl, you already know you're unwanted." The woman's words attacked like venom. Hannah began to walk away, slowly, before feeling a spell attack her in the back, forcing her forward into the pavement. She stood back up and ran into the house. Her parents stood there, laughing as they watched the girl struggle.

M

7 year old Hannah peered out of her bedroom window, to see her mum and dad organizing a variety of potions and parchment next to their swimming pool. She looked near to the couple to see a cage with an animal inside, a frown crossed her face, as she envisioned the horrid things they'd do to this animal. She watched as her dad pulled the black cat out of the cage, and placed it on the ground. Her mum pointed her wand at the innocent kitten, and yelled, "Crucio!" The cat screeched deafeningly, as it began rolling around in pain. Hannah's eyes filled with tears, and she darted out of her room and next to the pool.  
"DON'T!" Hannah screamed, as her parents tortured the kitten. The woman turned around, momentarily lifting the curse from the cat. She gave Hannah a violent scowl, before turning back to the kitten. She heightened her wand again and the kitten started rolling around screeching on the floor again. "LEAVE HIM ALONE!" Hannah screamed, as she ran over to her mum. She attempted to grab the wand from her mum, but instead got pushed back onto the pavement.  
"Don't tell me what to do, you useless piece of shit." The woman spat dangerously, before again turning back to the kitten and torturing it.  
"STOP IT!" Hannah scolded, this time getting up, and swinging her arm to hit her mother around the back of the head. The woman turned around, with the most dangerous scowl across her face.  
"How dare you touch me, you useless, worthless, unwanted, bitch!" The woman pointed her wand at Hannah, lifting the curse from the kitten once more. Hannah's knees gave in as she fell to the pavement, her body twitching in excruciating pain. Her pained scream echoed, while the pain of a thousand hot knives stabbed at her. "Nobody fucking wanted you in the first place." The woman drawled. She lifted the Cruciatus curse, and levitated Hannah's helpless body over the pool. "I should have done this a long time ago." She forced Hannah under the water. Hannah's lungs filled up with water, as she tried to scream for help. Her eyes rolled to the back of her head, as she passed out, unconscious, drowned by her own mother.

M

Hannah awoke, her head only slightly light as her eyes adjusted to the brightness of the day sky. She sat up, and looked around. She was laying adjacent to the pool, just outside her house, where she remembered having a fight with her mum. She looked to where her parents had tortured the kitten, nothing was remaining. No kitten, no potions, no parents, nothing. She stood up with surprising ease, and walked over to the house. She checked in every room to find absolutely no sign of her parents. She never saw a sign of her parents again.

M

8 year old Hannah left the house for the very last time. There was no longer any food left, and no reason for her to stay. She didn't want to be there anymore, she hated the memories and visions she got every time she saw the pool, and the surrounding pavement. She walked for miles until she came across a small muggle town. She scuffed her feet along the ground, with her hands in her pockets, when she heard the noise of something being kicked across the floor. She looked down to see a pencil on the pavement. She picked it up and drew on the closest wall, to be fascinated with how it worked like a quill.

M

10 year old Hannah sat on the pavement in the middle of a CBD. Surrounding her was a collection of portraits she had drawn, advertised for $20 each. She had gotten by with selling her drawings, and used her money for food, water, and art supplies. She had a backpack filled with different shades of pencils, a wad of paper, and fruit. "Excuse me, could I please purchase this?" An old man pointed at a drawing of a cat. Hannah looked at the old man. The old man nodded in agreement and handed her a $20, before taking the drawing and turning to leave. It didn't seem to strike him that he hadn't actually heard her say the words that came into his head.

M

14 year old Hannah sat in the middle of a forest, with a wild cat perched adjacent to her. She had travelled so much in the past 6 years that she had learnt to apparate. She patted the cat, while pulling pieces of bread out of her bag, and feeding it to the cat, then throwing some around for birds to eat. She had only ever managed to make friends with animals, and hadn't even conversed with a single human since she had last seen her parents. After throwing her last piece of bread, she reached into her pocket to pull out a shiny metal blade, one she had pulled out of a razor she used for shaving. She rolled up her shorts a bit, to reveal a couple dozen fresh and old cuts and scars. She envisioned the arguments she had with her parents, remembering every word her mother said to her. The words "useless, worthless, unwanted" echoed through her head, as she slide the blade across her skin.

M

17 year old Hannah sat in the middle of London, with a wad of paper on her lap, drawing. "Excuse me," an old man's voice emitted into her thoughts. She looked up to see a man with a silver beard and half-moon spectacles. "Are you Hannah Byron?" The man asked. Hannah kept her face unemotional, even though her head was reeling with confusion. She nodded in response. "My name is Albus Dumbledore, I'm a professor. I was wondering if you'd come with me?" Dumbledore looked pleadingly at Hannah. Hannah was hesitant to move. She saw no reason to go with him. Dumbledore deepened his stare at Hannah, "Please." He pleaded. Hannah put everything back in her bag and decided to follow the man. She had nothing to lose, she had no plans for the future, and she didn't really care. She followed the man into a bar, where he approached the bartender. "Ah, Tom, do you mind if I book two rooms for the night?"  
"Not at all, Albus, not at all. Feel free to take your pick." The man replied enthusiastically. Dumbledore nodded to the man, and beckoned Hannah to follow him up some stairs.

"You're 17, Hannah, am I correct?" Dumbledore asked, his eyes looking at Hannah's with a hypnotic stare. Hannah nodded in return. "I'm a professor, the headmaster of Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry. I'm not asking, but informing you, that you'll be returning with me to the school to complete your last year of schooling. I'm not knowledgeable of how or where you've been living, but it is certain that you haven't been enrolled at a school past the age of 8. I think it only necessary that you receive a magical education while you can. We will be leaving tomorrow morning." Dumbledore continued to look intently at Hannah, expecting a reaction, but instead didn't receive one. "You may go to your room next door for the rest of the night, but you ought to know, there are restrictive charms in place, so don't expect to have the opportunity to escape." Hannah silently walked to the next room, and gently closed the door behind her, before pulling a blade out of her pocket.

M

Hannah sat at the back of the Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom, in a heated argument with Umbridge. "Detention! Miss Byron, you have no right in determining whether my teaching methods are sufficient or not. They are assigned by the ministry, therefore are sufficient in the eyes of those more worthy than yours." Umbridge snapped, with her head held high.  
"I guess the answer is no, then." Hannah remarked.  
"50 points from Slytherin! Miss Byron, I will not take any more from worthless, unmannered, ill-tempered, unwanted children like yourself. You'll have detention every day for a week starting Monday, and you'll leave this classroom, right now. Get out!" With that, Hannah got out of her seat and walked to her dormitory, where she pulled a blade out of her bag.

M

Hannah entered her dormitory to see Pansy Parkinson next to her bed. "You lost us 50 house points." Pansy said, angrily.  
"I established that." Hannah retorted, sarcastically.  
"Don't talk to me like that, you useless piece of shit!" Pansy thundered, holding up her wand towards Hannah, threateningly.  
"Blast me, I don't care."  
"I could kill you, and you would deserve it. Nobody likes you, you're unwanted, worthless, and nobody would care if you were dead. All you are is a waste of space and points in this house!" Pansy yelled, her face turning red with anger.  
"Do it then. Kill me. Do everyone a favour." Hannah replied, emotionlessly. Pansy lowered her wand, then headed over to the head of Hannah's bed, picking up Spero and holding him about the throat. "Put. My. Fucking. Cat. Down." Hannah snarled. Slowly approaching Pansy.  
"I told you, you will pay for treating me the way you did." She scowled back, tightening her grip around the kitten's throat. Hannah slid her wand down her sleeve,  
"Petrificus Totalus!" She yelled, stunning Pansy into a lifeless-looking corpse, laying on the ground.

T

Snape landed back to reality, his jaw slightly dropped. He hadn't expected her to have been homeless from the age of 8, he hadn't expected her own parents to have tried to kill her, and he hadn't expected her parents to have been fellow death eaters.

**Right, there we have it. "_The big reveal"_****More clarification comes in the next chapter. **

**Please review, and let know what you think. Thankyou, many, many many, many many many, chapters to come. :) **


	15. Chapter 15

**This chapter thoroughly consists of convenient entrances for plot continual purposes. **

**Key reference: M = Memory entrance or exit, T = Memory Transition.**

Hannah stared aimlessly toward Snape, her thoughts still lost in what she just envisioned. Her face remained emotionless, as always, but her head ran through an emotional minefield. "Hannah," Snape started, his head reeling just as thoroughly as hers. Hannah's eyes refocused to reality, as she looked back at Snape. What had he thought about everything that he just saw?  
"Yes?" Hannah asked, as if she hadn't just witnessed her past unfold in front of her.  
"Your parents…" Snape started, his face showed the slightest bit of emotion, horror, guilt, worry. "What were your parents last names?"  
"Leems, I think." Hannah answered. Why was his first instinct to question what my parents' last names were?  
"Did you ever consider why they felt the need to practice harmful spells and potions on animals?" Snape enquired, his deep eyes filled with memories.  
"It didn't really occur to me as a 7 year old." Hannah replied. She hadn't considered why they practiced on animals, she just thought of them as heartless people who relished in harming innocent things.  
"Susanna and Brian Leems, both were death eaters in Voldemort's inner circle. They used potions as a torture technique, alongside the cruciatus curse." Snape spoke, his eyes lost in his past memories.  
"I'm assuming you were a death eater too, then?" Hannah enquired. She hadn't really cared much about Snape's past, and she wasn't exactly going to care much if he admitted to being a mass murderer or cause of grief and pain. In all honesty, she had only really cared about the wellbeing of animals, and not entirely the wellbeing of humans. Perhaps it was because animals were just that much more vulnerable and helpless.  
"Since you inquire, yes. But things have changed since then." He replied, somewhat surprised Hannah didn't seem too phased by the concept.  
"So you knew my parents?" Hannah dug into her most curious question. She had always wondered what actually happened with her parents, but for some reason she never pondered on their past beyond the day they left.  
"Yes, and no. I worked with them, we worked on potions together, nothing more or less than that. They seemed a lot more indulged in the thought of harming others' than I was. I personally didn't feel any need to get to know them any more than I did, they weren't particularly the most pleasant of people to be around." Snape drawled, with the thought of Susanna and Brian controlling his voice. Hannah, for the first time, felt she couldn't control her curiosity, since the day her parents left. She felt the need to ask more questioned, but she hated asking questions. She hated being curious. She had every reason to want to refrain from being too curious. "Miss Byron, I'm not going to hurt you for being curious. I never will. Ask away your curiosity, you've held it in too long." Snape reassured her. She felt odd, when such a sinister man sounded somewhat comforting. She didn't know if she liked or hated it.  
"What happened to them?" Hannah finally asked.  
"I can't certainly answer that question, although, I think I know someone who can." Snape remembered his recent conversation with Dumbledore, he knew the man had knowledge that Hannah didn't have, and he knew he probably was the only one who did. He had a tendency of knowing too much, and keeping his knowledge in the dark until things were perhaps too late.

At that moment the door opened, to Madam Pomfrey and Dumbledore strolling in one after the other, Madam Pomfrey with a tray full of food, Dumbledore with a sparkle in his eye. "Ahh Miss Byron, it's truly relieving to see you're alright." Dumbledore conjured a chair next to Snape's and sat, facing Hannah. Madam Pomfrey placed the tray on the bedside table.  
"Honestly, I'm going to need to do some check-ups on Miss Byron sooner or later without feeling like I'm intruding." Madam Pomfrey complained.  
"Ah, Madam, you'll be sure to have the opportunity soon, although, I believe Severus, Hannah, and I have something to discuss at this very moment." Dumbledore smiled up at Madam Pomfrey, allowing the lingering smile to be a dismissive sign. Madam Pomfrey left the room, returning the smile.

"Albus, your entrance is at a most convenient time. Miss Byron and I were just discussing the unknown that you were so unwilling to explain. I think now would be most opportune to reveal your secrets." Snape drawled, with a slight teasing sarcasm in his voice.  
"Very well, Miss Byron, are you willing for Severus and yourself to view the smallest of details I'm knowledgeable of, from the night your parents left?" Dumbledore enquired, with sincerity. Hannah's head reeled with questions. How did this man know so much? How come she wasn't informed of anything earlier? She nodded in response. "Very well." Dumbledore seemed a bit uneasy. His head was reeling with regret and guilt. He felt terrible for what he witnessed, terrible for what he done, and even more terrible for what he didn't do. Dumbledore waved his hand over near the bed, and conjured a pensieve. He placed his wand to his temple, threading a stream of silver from his head, as he allowed it to flow into the liquid of the pensieve. "Please, Hannah, don't think ill of me when you see my mistakes." Dumbledore looked pleadingly at Hannah, before Severus and Hannah fell into the memories.

M

Dumbledore walked down a road of Godric's Hollow, drowning in his old memories of living there. He jumped out of his thoughts when he heard a scream emit from nearby. His curiosity controlled him, as he followed the source of the scream. He peered through the neatly trimmed hedge, which bordered and concealed the Leems' house. Two adults, looking as deranged as they come, and a vulnerable little blond girl, stood beside a swimming pool. The man of the three watched, amused, as the woman lifted the curse off of the kitten, and turned to her own daughter. Screams echoed about the area again. Dumbledore watched as the girl was tortured, then plunged into the water. His senses took over himself, as he raised his wand, and climbed through the bushes. A stream of red emitted from the end of his wand, knocking the woman out. Brian turned, a green light flashing out of his wand. Explosions broke out, as the two duelled, no words said between them, just pure anger. Dumbledore's head filled with fear for the girl at the bottom of the pool, she'd definitely be unconscious by now, her life draining away as they fought. One last green light flickered out of Brian's wand, as a shield formed around Dumbledore. The green light bounced back, hitting Brian square in the heart. His body laid lifeless upon the concrete. Dumbledore, without considering the fact he had just killed the girl's father, levitated Hannah from the water. He performed spells to clear her lungs and fill them with oxygen, then placed her under a stunning spell, to ensure she didn't wake soon.

T

Auras arrived at the scene, disposing of the dead body, and taking Susanna Leems to Azkaban. They left Dumbledore, with the unconscious girl on the ground, and with the black kitten, which perched nearby, watching everything in front of him. Dumbledore picked the kitten up in his arms, then walked back through the hedge, before lifting the stunning spell from Hannah, allowing her to wake. He felt guilt as he left. But he had made his decision. He was not fit enough to look after another vulnerable person. He couldn't even look after his own sister. He walked away, hoping that someone would find her, and take care of her, while she would live a life without parents.

M

Hannah lifted her head out of the pensieve. She didn't know how to feel. She sat, her eyes unfocused, reliving the memories in her head again. Dumbledore sat uneasily. He expected Hannah to be disappointed with his actions. He expected her to be disappointed that he left her there. But he also knew she wasn't that shallow, he knew that she would try to understand his full motives, before determining how she felt about what he did. "Miss Byron, I understand that I made many mistakes that day. I also understand that you ought to be disappointed with those mistakes, which nearly cost you your life. I can't tell you not to hate me for my actions, but I can ask for you to be forgiving." Dumbledore looked pleadingly at Hannah.  
"One shouldn't feel guilt, just because their good deed wasn't better. The fact you went out of your way to save my life should be enough to let you sleep at night." Hannah looked intently at Dumbledore, then shifted her eyes to Snape, knowing that it applied to him too. Hannah wasn't particularly happy that she was still alive, she did want to die in the end, but things always happened for a reason.  
"Hannah, you're awfully forgiving for one who has lost so much through the failure of others'. I'm thankful for that, yet intrigued." Dumbledore allowed a smile, as his eyes flickered with thankfulness.  
"An event shouldn't damage your ability to think logically." Hannah reassured. She knew Dumbledore didn't entirely doubt that she would forgive him. She didn't see why he should feel much guilt, having saved her in the first placed. To actually take her in afterwards would have been the work of a saint. "Sir, what happened to the cat?" Hannah enquired. She was curious about what happened to the kitten all those years ago. Typical, for someone who was more worried about the wellbeing of animals than humans.  
"Actually, Miss Byron, he's still alive. In fact, one of the students has him as a pet." Dumbledore smiled brightly, he was thankful that Hannah was willingly making conversation now, and asking questions. "Ligo, I think the student named him. In fact, I think you're friends with the cat's owner." A twinkle appeared in Dumbledore's eye, as an inside thought controlled his exterior. At that moment, the door opened, to Adrian Pucey walking in with Spero in his hands, and another black cat trailing behind him. Ligo.

**Okay, to avoid any argument, yes, Dumbledore did in fact use Protego to repel Avada Kedavra, and there's no definite answer to whether that's actually possible or not. But for this stories purpose, it is. Here is my justification:  
Albus is in fact the most powerful sorcerer in the world, therefore is just fabulous and can do basically anything.  
Albus also happens to own the freaking strongest wand in the word.  
Albus also happens to be able to conjure a really powerful Protego spell.  
Albus is fab.  
Albus. **

**Anyway, please review and let me know how my stories coming along, :) **


	16. Chapter 16

**Just a small chapter, but felt obligated to post something when I saw I reached over 1000 reads. 1000 reads. 1000 flipping reads. Anyway, further relationships development coming up, and trust me, things will ACTUALLY speed up soon. Like 24 hours won't take 10 chapters. **

Spero jumped out of Adrian's hands at the sight of Hannah, running up and jumping onto her bed. "Mr Pucey, I believe we have a lot to thank you for. If it wasn't for your actions, we wouldn't have Hannah here at all." Dumbledore spoke sincerely to Adrian. Adrian nodded in response, as Dumbledore conjured a third chair next to Hannah's bed, so Adrian could sit. Hannah sat awkwardly under all of the attention. She hated that many people being around her, even if they were all people she didn't exactly hate.  
"Mind you, headmaster, they shouldn't have been necessary actions at all, if certain students and teachers hadn't been involved." Snape interrupted, harshly.  
"Severus, I understand your dislike for Dolores, although I haven't much control over her employment status. Pansy, on the other hand, will face consequences."  
"No." Hannah interrupted. All three of the males in the room shifted their attention back to Hannah.  
"I think it only fitting that Miss Parkinson should be punished for her behaviour, Miss Byron." Severus informed, his drawl back in his voice.  
"You think punishing someone for something they don't see as wrong is going to make them feel any less determined for revenge? Stunning her alone would've been enough to aggravate her." Hannah argued half-heartedly. She knew what she was saying was true, and she also knew they didn't need too much convincing to see the logic in her statement.  
"So the wise way to go about the situation would be to move Hannah from the dormitory?" Snape looked toward Dumbledore for an answer.  
"That, indeed, would be the wise thing to do. Although, that still doesn't justify Miss Parkinson's actions. But let us determine further punishment in the future. I think, for the time being, we should allow Mr Pucey some time alone with Miss Byron, I'm sure he's on a very tight schedule with classes." Dumbledore glanced at Snape, inching him to come along with him, then glanced between Adrian and Hannah, with a twinkle in his eye. The two professors left the room, leaving Adrian and Hannah in the room, alone.

The two sat in silence for a minute or two, stroking their own black cats. "How did you come by that cat?" Hannah questioned, starting off a conversation through the awkwardness.  
"Ligo? Dumbledore gave him to me in my first year, it was originally his cat for three years, but he gave him to me when my parents refused to buy me a pet." Adrian looked taken aback by the way he freely discussed things with Hannah. He'd usually think over things before he said them, but for once he actually felt like he needn't bother worrying about what he said around Hannah.  
"Did he tell you anything else about Ligo?" Hannah questioned, surprisingly interested in Adrian's story.  
"Not necessarily, he told me that the story behind Ligo was complicated, but he never elaborated more." Adrian looked questioningly towards Hannah. She knew something that he didn't.  
"If your curiosity ever controls you, ask Dumbledore about him. I'm sure he'd elaborate now." Humour filled Hannah's eyes, as she realized how much of a coincidence everything just happened to be. Everything happens for a reason, and sometimes the happenings and the reasons pan out like a pre-planned novel.

Snape and Dumbledore entered the room again, Dumbledore with his eye twinkling, Snape looking a little more relaxed. "Well, I'm sure you've had a very lively discussion in the time of our momentary absence, but I'm afraid I'll have to interrupt. Severus and I have something to discuss with Miss Byron. I'm sure Miss Byron would love for you to come back in your next break." Dumbledore dismissed Adrian with subtle implications. Adrian left the room with Ligo in his arms, leaving with a last moment of eye contact with Hannah.

"Now, Severus and I were just discussing new arrangements for you. It has become quite obvious that you're not the most social and extroverted student at our school, and that you'd most likely prefer to stay in a room which doesn't consist of half a dozen other students. Severus has agreed to allow you to use his spare bedroom in his private quarters, of course given multiple conditions, which I'm sure he'll discuss with you soon. Do you have any objections to this?" Dumbledore looked intently at Hannah, while Snape looked anxious. He didn't feel comfortable being seen as someone so offering. He definitely wouldn't want other students to know that he had offered another student accommodation in his own private rooms.  
"My answer lies in Professor Snape's certainty." Hannah responded. She quite liked the idea. Not the idea of sharing an area with Snape, but the idea of sleeping in a room alone, actually having privacy.  
"I'm certain." Snape answered. Snape wouldn't lie. Not so bluntly.  
"Very well, I'll leave you two to discussion." Dumbledore stood, before giving Snape a sincere nod and leaving the room.

"Now, Miss Byron, you must understand that this isn't a common offering. I wouldn't offer my own private quarters to another staff member, let alone any other student. My intention lies mostly in your safety, therefore I need you to follow simple guidelines, to ensure your own safety. This includes hours you will be in your room by, and hours you'll be allowed out of your room. This does not give you any more or less slack in classes, and you'll be expected to do all your homework within the night you're given." Snape paused, to allow Hannah to interject. Hannah slowly nodded. "And most importantly, you're not to take any of my books without permission." Snape added, a slight touch of humour in his voice. At that, the door opened, to Madam Pomfrey walking in.  
"Okay, I don't care how deep and meaningful this conversation is, Hannah is in need of a check-up. Severus, could I please ask you to leave the room for 5 minutes." Madam Pomfrey's voice gave no room for argument. Snape nodded from Hannah to Madam Pomfrey, then left the room.

"Very well, Miss Byron, use these potions twice daily for the next couple of weeks, and then you should be better than ever." Madam Pomfrey handed Hannah a large vial of anti-fever potion, and Murtlap Essence. "You may leave when you wish, although I wouldn't encourage any highly physical activities. You'll be able to start classes again on Monday." With that, Madam Pomfrey left the room, nodding to Snape who was standing outside the door. Hannah downed an anti-fever potion, then sat up on her bed, to test if she was any less dizzy than she was previously. After her head finished spinning, she drank a glass of water from the tray of food on her bedside table, went to the bathroom, and then sat back upright on her bed.  
"Very well, Miss Byron, I'll move your belongings to my spare room within the next hour. For now I think it logical for you to rest. I'll fetch you before the night, so you can spend the night in your new room." Snape stated, before leaving the room entirely, allowing Hannah to sleep.

Hannah drifted asleep, and for the first time in 10 years, slept without nightmares.

**Please review, blah blah, thank you. 3**


	17. Chapter 17

**It's been a few days since my last upload, so here's a new chapter. I literally upload like 100x sooner when I see a positive review or a new follow or favourite, so if you want another chapter up sooner, please just leave a review or something, I need my motivational boosts. **

Hannah awoke to a black cat jumping onto her chest, and Adrian standing at the hospital door. She sat up, causing Spero to wriggle out from under her blankets, and allowing Ligo to lay on her lap. "I didn't intend to wake you, but that was amusing nonetheless." Adrian mused in the way Ligo woke Hannah up.  
"Amusing?" Hannah questioned.  
"Ligo basically power charged his way to your bed. I'm amused you awoke barely phased." Adrian made his way next to Hannah's bed.  
"It's a common happening." Hannah replied. She always awoke to cats jumping all over her when she lived on the streets. "Did you talk to Dumbledore?"  
"Yes. Quite the coincidence." Adrian reviewed his conversation with Dumbledore.  
"Nothing is truly a coincidence while another being enforces it." Hannah replied, her head reeling with irrelevant thoughts.  
"Fair point." Adrian sat on the chair, with his head facing down, as he always did. This was the first time in a long time that he had had a full conversation with someone, he felt so at ease talking to Hannah. All his walls seemed to break down around her. He knew it was because she wouldn't judge, she wouldn't have an opinion until she knew the truth, and he knew, that deep down, he wasn't someone that deserved harsh judgement. He was someone who portrayed himself as an outsider, an introvert, just so people wouldn't judge him. He hated judgement. His life revolved around it whenever he was at home. He'd rather be seen as someone so bland that someone would think there is nothing to be critiqued within his exterior. He'd rather be seen as an emotionless, harmless, being, who would just sit in the corner and mind their own business. Someone so unintimidating that nobody would think twice about him. He'd rather be non-existent than someone judged as something he was not.

Hannah watched Adrian, snapping out of her distant thoughts. She couldn't help but see the hurt within him. The pain he's experience outside. Not to the same extent as her, but to the same impact. She ventured into his mind, feeling everything he did. She didn't like the thought that he didn't want to be himself. It reminded her of herself so much. She wished nobody else would have to feel the way she did. Sometimes it would just have to take her breaking out of her own wall for him to break out of his.  
"Adrian" she started.  
"Yes?" His head piped up at his name. Hannah hadn't planned what she'd say next, she let the first thought that popped into her mind come out verbally.  
"Why wouldn't your parents let you get a pet?" She kicked herself mentally when she realized that this was potentially a personal question.  
"They just generally didn't think I deserved one. They're very strict, they're never really satisfied with everything, even if the world's judge of perfection thought something was perfect." Adrian let the words slip out of his mouth without thinking about them.  
"Is that why you're always in the library? Or is that also on your own behalf?" Hannah felt as if she was walking on thin ice with the questions, but she also knew that if he were to tell her, then she's breaking down his walls which were so strongly built up.  
"Both. What about you?" Adrian asked, feeling more comfortable asking curious questions.  
"On my own behalf." Hannah returned. Adrian and Hannah continued talking for the next half hour, talking about their pasts comfortably. They discussed their past experiences with abusive parents, and freely discussed their hatred for the closed minded students at the school. Their long conversation wasn't broken until the door opened to Snape entering.

Snape stood outside the door, listening in on the conversation held from within. He listened to the most introverted students he had met, converse freely about their past. He listened as their voices softened with fondness as they spoke to each other. He listened as two talented students built their first real friendship. He opened the door, and allowed a momentary twinkle in his eye, as he saw Adrian looking into Hannah's eyes. Although neither were smiling, they both looked the happiest he had ever seen them. He hadn't ever seen either of the two smile, alike to him in his school days. He had only smiled when he talked to Lily.

"I hate to intrude on your discussion, but it is getting late. I think it is best if you head to your dormitory, Mr Pucey, while Miss Byron will come with me." Snape interrupted their conversation, as Adrian allowed his eyes to move from Hannah's.  
"Yes sir." Adrian replied. Snape stood taken aback for a moment, amazed by the fact that Adrian had verbally addressed him, but allowed his surprise to fade before any of the two noticed. Adrian headed for the door, after nodding to Hannah before leaving for his dormitory.

Snape conjured a t-shirt and trackpants onto the end of Hannah's bed. "I'll allow you to get changed before we move, I'll be outside the door when you're ready." Snape left the room to give Hannah time.

Hannah went into the bathroom and changed into her clothes, giving her time to think while she was alone. She reviewed the conversation she had with Adrian, impressed with herself for breaking down Adrian's walls and allowing him to feel comfortable talking to her. She learnt so much about him in the past hour, and the more she found out, the more she was fascinated by him. He was so alike to her, he was quiet, introverted, insightful, and had a flawed past. He had been battered by the pure blood law, having beliefs forced upon him about muggleborn's being evil. He had used his own initiative while growing up and avoided being prejudiced. He was able to see beyond what he was taught throughout his life, and that alone made Hannah respect him more than anything. Adrian was his own person, and disregarded anything which didn't involve logic. Under his introverted exterior he vowed to his own beliefs and insights, and that is what Hannah thought was amazing about him. He grew up in such a strict and forceful environment, yet still allowed himself to see things for what they really were. If everyone was like Adrian, then perhaps Hannah wouldn't entirely hate the human race.

Hannah left the room dressed, holding Spero, and followed Snape down to his chambers. As they entered through his heavy wooden door, Snape closed the door behind him, performing a locking charm. "Now, Miss Byron, I'd appreciate it if you were not to have any late night strolls, whatever the purpose may be." He glanced intently at Hannah for a moment, then directed her to her new room. "I have moved all of your belongings from your dormitory into this room." Snape walked into her room and bent down and picked up a piece of paper with a drawing from Hannah's first night at Hogwarts. The perfectly intricate drawing of a black cat began to move, as a living cat would. The drawing made out the actions of a cat leaping, then laying back down to rest, with its head tucked in the warmth of its own body. Snape watched the drawing, mesmerized by the extensive talent shown from the artwork. "It's impressive." He managed to say, not used to complimenting. Hannah nodded in response, although amazed that Snape actually complimenting something for the first time. He placed the drawing on Hannah's bed then proceeded to the door. "Goodnight." He reluctantly voiced.  
"Goodnight." Hannah replied, before getting into bed after Snape closed the door.

Adrian laid in his bed, when Ligo leapt on his bed, then laid down to rest, with its head tucked in the warmth of its own body. "Goodnight." Adrian mouthed.

**Aww such cute, many touching, very friends**


	18. Chapter 18

**So sorry that I haven't uploaded lately - had so many hours of work, no motivation, and a damn faulty word document. I had to recover this chapter at least 3 times. I'll try my darnedest to upload faster for the next chapter. Anyway, hope you enjoy this chapter. **

Hannah awoke the next morning feeling better than ever, only with the smallest sign of a fever, which disappeared after a small vial of anti-fever potion. She got changed into her usual clothing, then sat back on her bed petting Spero for a while. Her thoughts were nothing but positive as she remembered the previous night. She currently had nothing to hate, she didn't have classes until Monday, with the day being Saturday, she had managed to break down Adrian's walls a bit, and she was now in her own room. Although she was still a bit uncertain with a lot of other things, she still didn't fancy the idea of being at a school, she didn't have any purpose, she wasn't entirely alone, and she didn't entirely have her own room, although for the first time in her life she had another person she didn't mind talking to. Her thoughts broke with a knock on the door. Snape edged the door open, not to look in. "I'll be in my study when you want to get up, we need to discuss something." His tone was none but neutral.

"Mhmm." Hannah hummed back, not feeling any need to address him any other way being early in the morning. The door gently closed and Hannah was again alone.

Half an hour later, Hannah entered Snape's study, with Spero perched on her shoulder. "Be seated." Snape spoke neutrally. Hannah sat on a chair which was adjacent to Snape, behind a desk. Piles of parchment was spread across the desk, all relevant to the lecture Hannah was about to receive. "Please talk to me now, I hate conversing just as much as you do, but some things just need to be discussed." He looked at Hannah pleadingly.  
"Alright." Hannah replied, making an effort not to allow her confusion into her voice. She still strongly hated conversing, and she still felt uncomfortable talking, with the fear she'll say the wrong thing. Snape pulled a piece of parchment out of a pile.  
"Firstly, how did you know about these ingredients, and where did you get them?" Snape held the notes Hannah had written before the incident.  
"An accessible library and the forbidden forest." Hannah replied, trying to keep the sarcasm out of her voice.  
"Could you not elaborate any more?" Snape asked, his voice surprisingly still neutral.  
"Not really, no. I don't tend to take note of the books I read, nor do I remember where in the forbidden forest I found them, as it was dark. Unless you wish to rummage through my books I have, which I'm almost certain you have already, then I can't definitely answer your question." Hannah replied again, not allowing her annoyance or sarcasm to etch into her voice.  
"Very well, I'll just have to ask for your word then. I can't have you looking through dangerous books, nor can I have you snooping around forbidden areas, or brewing poisonous draughts. As you can see, I've been up all night planning for your education and wellbeing, I'd hate for my work to be wasted." Hannah's eyes drifted over the parchment again, a heavy feeling hitting her with guilt as she saw the effort he had put into her.  
"You have my word." She replied, for no other reason but guilt. Snape's eyes showed the shortest sign of approval, before turning to his usual neutral look. He nodded his head then proceeded to read over the parchment.  
"I also have planned a study timetable for you. I am aware that you are well behind with your studies, being deprived of school from such a young age, so I have made the effort to organize private tutoring for you with certain teachers and students." Snape eyed Hannah as he saw discomfort wash over her. "I'm still awaiting their approval, although I'm certain they'll agree." Snape glanced at Hannah, awaiting a response. "Please speak Hannah." He edged her.  
"Who will the tutors supposedly be?" Hannah voiced her greatest worry.  
"Mcgonagall, Adrian, and myself, most likely." Snape eyed Hannah for approval, but instead just received an unchanging look.  
"You said students? That's only one." Hannah returned.  
"Well, Mcgonagall and I will be busy at times – we'll have to find capable substitute students. I do have a few in mind, although with recent events one of my choices mightn't be very suitable."  
"Draco?"  
"Indeed, he's definitely one of the most advanced students, although his relationship with Pansy is quite the hurdle. Adrian is probably capable of tutoring you with all subjects, but of course his most excelling are Charms and Potions. I think it best if I were to supervise you with Potions and Defence, while Mcgonagall will, hopefully, tutor you with transfiguration. I believe you are well up to standards with Herbology, and I hardly feel it necessary to express my thoughts towards Divination." He finished his lecture off with a scowl at the word Divination. Hannah nodded in response, not knowing what to say. "And one last thing before you may go, I need to discuss with you your Legilimency skills. I think you understand the importance of occlumency, especially when trying to protect your thoughts from the dark lord's penetration. I need to know what about your skills are superior to his – I can't risk not having the ability to entirely protect my mind." Snape reluctantly pleaded.  
"I couldn't tell you, but it isn't hearing thoughts which gives comprehension – but insight and what's in sight. One who speaks in riddles will never be heard until someone solves them, and sometimes, if you look far enough, you can solve the equation without hearing the problem. It isn't just mind penetration which you need to worry about – actions speak louder than words. You're not an open book, but sometimes your cover blows. As long as someone doesn't have the insight to read further, then you haven't to worry." Hannah sat a moment longer, awaiting a response from Snape, but instead watched as his eyes flickered through emotions, as he comprehended the words Hannah spoke.  
"You may go." Snape eventually voiced, still absorbed into his thoughts. Hannah left the room with Spero, then headed for the Great Hall.

Snape sat, drowning in his thoughts. She was right – Voldemort didn't have much insight, he's too focused on one thing to be bothered with another. As long as he didn't blow obvious cover he shouldn't worry, but it still didn't explain how Hannah had the ability to penetrate his mind. Did she even have superior skills to him? Or did he just tend to blow his cover around her? There's something about the girl which makes him feel like he should be himself, something which makes him feel like he can do or say whatever, and she won't have an opinion until she knows everything. Perhaps, that was why she could penetrate his mind – because his emotions weren't controlled. Or perhaps, he's never tried to keep her out. Perhaps he didn't mind the she had access to his thoughts, perhaps he just simply trusted her.

Hannah arrived at the Great Hall, to get food for Spero, before heading for the doors of the castle to go outside. She hadn't yet explored outside the castle, apart from at night, when she couldn't see anything. She had never really been in the mindset to admire anything, but for some reason everything seemed so much more impressive today. She walked through the clocktower courtyard, hearing the bells as they chimed at 8am. Everything seemed so much more impressive when students weren't swarming around. She circled the castle for a good hour, admiring everything she hadn't yet noticed, then sat under a tree adjacent the lake. She watched over the lake, the only thing she didn't find near as impressive as one would. She still hated water more than anything, the thought of water made her relive the memories of a decade ago. Spero sat on her lap, looking as though he was feeling the same as Hannah. He too looked upon the lake, looking as if reliving a terrible moment.

Hannah's thoughts were broken as she heard footsteps approaching her. She looked up to see Adrian holding Ligo in his arms. "Morning." Adrian voiced, sounding not near as unenthused as he usually did.  
"Morning." Hannah responded, half mocking his tone.  
"Snape talked to me about the tutoring. I hardly think you need it." Adrian spoke, as he sat adjacent Hannah.  
"I hardly think I want it. Tutoring in general, that is." Hannah replied. She didn't exactly love the thought of having schooling, let alone extra tutoring on top, but she didn't dare argue with Snape. She might as well use the time she is alive to at least follow the rules to make one happy.  
"I think it's more to keep you occupied than to actually tutor you. Although he seems very particular about Defence Against the Dark Arts and Potions. He does get a bit pushy with potential for those subjects." Adrian reasoned.  
"Keep me occupied? I'm sure there are many more entertaining ways to do that." Hannah replied, half sarcastically.  
"Well, keep you distracted from your thoughts, would be more accurate. You know, instead of staring off into a lake reminiscing." Adrian half joked. Hannah continued to stare off into the lake, nodding absent mindedly. "He's just worried about you. I've never seen him worry about a student before. In fact I've never seen him show any emotion before. His walls just really broke that night." Adrian stared off into the distance alike to Hannah, then brought his attention back, before turning his head to face Hannah. "I think all of ours did."

Hannah smiled.

**Thank you so much for reading this far, please review and follow and favourite if you're liking it so far, send me suggestions, predictions, requests, anything. If you want to be apart of this story, just send me a message or review saying the name you want to be (can be your own), your house, year, and a slight description of your appearance. I'll find a way to sketch you into the story. **


	19. Chapter 19

**New chapter, (no crap, duh), new character introductions, more profanity reduction, there might even be a little bit of seduction, so drop anything that might be productive and waste your life away reading what I wrote today, let me hear a thought from you and drop me a review, tell me your thoughts about Hannah, correct my grammar, and let me know if you want to be in this story too. **

**Honestly I'm just not entirely sober and I felt like writing a rap. But anyway, enjoy this chapter. **

Monday approached fast enough. The morning starting with Snape muttering under his breath his hatred toward Umbridge, with her being appointed as High Inquisitor yesterday. On the weekend Mcgonagall had agreed to help Hannah with Transfiguration, and organized a potential student tutor from Hufflepuff.

The school day started with potions, thankfully. Hannah was paired with Adrian as usual, and the lesson went by without being scolded for the first time. Although Snape wasn't favouring her, he for once left her and Adrian alone, and spent the whole lesson scolding Fred and George instead.

The next lesson was transfiguration. As she arrived, Mcgonagall pulled Hannah out of the classroom, along with another student. "Hannah, this is Danielle Ingram, Danielle, this is Hannah Byron. I will be pairing you two up from now on. Danielle has been the most excelling student in transfiguration in this year group, therefore I think it most appropriate for her to be your tutor." Hannah looked up at Dani, who was about a head taller, with short brown curly hair. She couldn't possibly have seen a more friendly face in her entire life. Dani looked back towards Hannah, in a way that almost looked sisterly. "I will leave you two out of the ordinary lesson today, to revisit the older spells that we have covered in previous lessons. I'll see you both when the lesson has finished." Mcgonagall smiled at Hannah, then winked at Dani, before leaving them in the corridor.

Dani lead Hannah to a nearby empty classroom, where she dropped a pile of books onto the desk. "My God I'm glad we can skip that class. I honestly hate having lessons with Slytherins." She looked at Hannah, half forgetting she was a Slytherin too. "I mean like, not all Slytherins, just like t.."  
"The intimidating ones." Hannah completed her sentence.  
"Yeah. Some of those guys freak me out, especially Snape and that. And then there's the people like Cassius who is just a right clown." Dani sat down on a chair and chucked her legs up on a desk, as she grabbed a book from the pile. "I don't really know how much you know, so we'll just stuff around with the first year spells then work our way up." Dani flicked through her book, found a page, then slammed the book on the table, grabbed her wand, then stood up over enthusiastically. "Half of the spells in this book need an animal, and I really hate using real animals so I'll just conjure one for the time." Dani pointed her wand at a desk and turned it into a rat. "This one we learnt in first year was to turn a rodent into a water goblet. It seems kind of useless actually, I've never had to use it, but I'm assuming she'd ask you to demonstrate it for her." Dani pointed her wand at the rat, tapped three times, and then voiced, "Vera verto." The rat turned graciously into a water goblet. Hannah got the hang of the spell easily enough with the first time of trying. Dani proceeded to flick through her transfiguration book. "Yeah most of these spells are kind of useless unless you wanted to push a cow onto a cruise ship."

An hour and 20 spells later, the bell sounded for the end of class. They made their way back to the classroom to wait for Mcgonagall. They arrived and Mcgonagall lead them both into the classroom. "My expectations aren't too high at the present time for you Miss Byron, but I trust that Miss Ingram's tutoring was sufficient enough for a few basics." She walked to her desk and turned a quill into a rat. "I'm going to assume that Miss Ingram taught you the rodent to water goblet spell, am I correct?" Hannah nodded in response. "Very well, please demonstrate, Miss Byron." Hannah transfigured the rat perfectly the first time round. Mcgonagall smiled brightly at both Dani and Hannah, obviously pleased with the outcome. "Very well, I'll be sure to set further work for you in the future, but for now I'm sure your efforts have been sufficient enough. You may go." Hannah and Dani both headed for the door, Dani grabbed the door handle first, and kept her hand there. "Hannah, if you want to hang out or anything, you'll most likely find me in the library." Dani looked at Hannah with the sisterly look.  
"Thanks." Hannah replied, unsure how she felt about the request. They then left the room, Dani went in one direction, Hannah turned in the other, to see Adrian had been waiting outside the door the whole time. Hannah gave a weak smile up at Adrian, he gave a weak smile back.  
"Alright there, startled, surprised?" Adrian joked.  
"A little." Hannah replied, honestly.  
"Had fun? I would've been glad to get out of that noisy classroom."  
"I hardly think I escaped the noise. The girl alone could fill the Great Hall with chatter." Hannah replied sarcastically. "She's nice enough, though. Better than a whole class." The two continued to talk through until double Herbology.

The day went fast enough, up until their last class, charms. The lesson was interfered by Umbridge trotting in, sniffing around the classroom for mistakes like a hungry rat. She complained about everything from the size of the teacher to the colour of the curtains. "I don't believe red is a sufficient colour for curtains, I believe white is more appropriate for a learning environment. I am more than disappointed in your lack of effort to attain a sufficient learning environment. I hardly think it is necessary to practice spells, Filius, I am sure that theoretic learning would be adequate." She continued to lurk around the classroom, examining from the ceiling to the students. Her eyes fixed on Hannah, "I believe I'll be seeing you in detention tonight, too, Miss Byron."

That night, Hannah went to Umbridge's office, waiting outside also was Harry Potter. "Detention?" Harry asked.  
"No, I actually quite like visiting the cow for cups of tea." Hannah joked. Harry smiled widely.  
"You must be Hannah? Fred and George told me a bit about you. Said you wound her up a bit the other day." Harry asked, obviously amused by the behaviour of the Slytherin. Hannah nodded in return. The door then opened to Umbridge standing, with her head held high.  
"Come in." She squealed unbearably. She watched as Harry and Hannah sat down on opposite ends of her desk. "Mr Potter, the usual, Miss Byron, you will be writing down, 'My opinion is worthless'."  
"Which one of your opinions?" Hannah joked. Umbridge rounded up on Hannah.  
"Miss Byron, I will not take any of your cheek. You will write down, the words, 'My opinion is worthless', and you will do so without a word, or else you will receive much worse than lines." Umbridge huffed then sat back at her desk, writing down notes ferociously on a piece of parchment. Hannah proceeded to write her lines. She felt her own words tearing at her skin, but didn't mind. She felt the pain that she knew she deserved. She felt the pain she had always gone out of her way to receive. She felt the pain that she wanted to give Umbridge.

At midnight she made her way down to Snape's quarters, where he was waiting impatiently at his desk. "It's far past your curfew." Snape drawled.  
"I had detention, you know that." Harry returned.  
"I hardly think detention would've taken 4 hours, Miss Byron." Snape's voice dripped with disappointment.  
"Ask Umbridge." Hannah replied, trying to keep her annoyance out of her voice. She tried to walk past Snape's desk into her room, but instead Snape snatched her arm.  
"What's this?" Snape asked, his disappointment still in his voice. His eyes lingered on the torn flesh of her hand.  
"I told you, detention." Snape's expression turned to complete anger.  
"Umbridge did this to you?" Snape questioned, disapprovingly.  
"Loosely, yes. It doesn't really matter in the end. I earned the detention." Hannah stood, staring at Snape.  
"It's against the wizard schooling laws to use physical abuse on students as punishment, Miss Byron."  
"She technically didn't touch me, it was a quill."  
"An illegal quill nevertheless. Does the cut hurt?" Snape dropped his angry and disappointed voice as he looked back at the cut.  
"Nothing I can't bear." Hannah replied. Snape opened some of the draws of his desk and pulled out a familiar vial.  
"Murtlap Essence, put some on. I'll have a word with Dumbledore in the morning about Umbridge. You may go to your room."

Hannah laid in her bed, unable to sleep. She looked at her cat drawing. The cat was sitting up, looking wide awake, yet unmoving.

Adrian laid in his bed, unable to sleep. He looked at his cat. Ligo was sitting up, looking wide awake, yet unmoving.

**Thank youuuuuuuuuu for readddiinnngg. If you were confused about the pushing a cow onto a cruise line, that is absolutely fine, it's just a little bit of an inside joke of my friend and mine. **

**Honestly I should just drop this whole writing thing and become a rapper. **

**Anyway, if you were to drop a review, that'd be great. If you'd like to be a part of this story, like my friend Dani, just leave a review or PM telling me the name of your character, year, house, and a short description of your appearance and personality. **

**Thanks and all that good stuff. Next chapter shouldn't be too far away. **


End file.
